Mr Walton had finally returned home the day after he had left. He dragged his feet while he took off the thick coat. Looking around, he was surprised to see how clean the house was.
Softly, he walked into Claude's room, opening the door knob slowly. When he heard a click sound, he pushed the door open.
Claude was sleeping on the bed like a dead corpse. Putting his two hands together on his stomach while his whole body lay flat on the bed. With an awkward orderly placement of a blanket.
The harsh winds blew by while the sun rays shone down on the solid soil floor. Heating the earth crust.
Kai was sitting at the corner of the room, wiping and cleaning the blades of his swords and dagger before he saw the shadow of the door shifting into a thin line. He looked up and saw Mr Walton staring hard at Claude.
Looking back at his job, he continued cleaning without a word. His whole shirt and pants soaked with sweat while his hair was wet.
Seeing how hard Kai was concentrating, the words that circled around the tip of Mr Walton's tongue disappeared. He snapped his fingers softly, trying to remember. "Kai, did any of the knights come over?" He whispered loudly.
Nodding, Kai placed the allocated blades into a sheath of their own. "I settled that, don't worry. How is Madame Argenetia doing?" He settled on a more polite tone on referring to the mage.
"I'll go and check right now. You can come when you're done keeping those away." Mr Walton said, glancing at the mess. "And maybe take a shower too, Kai." He whispered.
The door closed with a soft thud while the heavy footsteps faded.
Claude opened his eyes and groaned, annoyed that he had been woken up. It has been quite awhile since he slept so well. He looked at the comfortable mattress he was laying down on and immediately looked around the room.
Smiling, Kai stood up warily. "You were really intent on getting the bed last night." He vaguely teased as he watched Claude's face flushed red
Attempting to come up with an excuse to claim his integrity back, Claude sat there blankly. However, he realized a thin red line of blood dripping down from Kai's hand.
"What did you do again?" Claude asked, exhausted.
"I fell." Kai immediately said. "Mr Walton is in the other room, you can go with him. Maybe you can ask him about his absence yesterday." He left the room with all his items bunched up in his hands. He shut the door with his elbows.
Claude scratched at his head and frowned.
He could've sworn he heard something. A soft rustle or a clang. He craned his neck and looked out the window, seeing nothing.
He took a couple steps closer to the window and spotted something moving in the grass. With it's small thin tail sticking out of the grass. It was just a rat making all that noise.
Relieved, Claude heaved a loud sigh and turned around. Scratching his ear on the way.
Mr Walton entered the room, preparing a glass of water and checking up on Lithia who was still dead asleep.
But it was apparent that she seemed much more alive and rejuvenated than she looked before. Her chalk white skin now had a tint of warm ivory.
Luar also looked much more energetic than before. It's blue watchful eyes zapping and spectating around the room. However, it's blue eyes suddenly paused.
"Luar?" Mr Walton stopped and the water in the glass spilled out slightly and dampened his clothes.
"Dodge. Now." Luar commanded, stepping up while the it's fur spiked up. It's form disintegrated as it took on a bigger shape.
The whole room exploded into a pool of smoke. A loud and high pitched sound rang across the whole village.
Mr Walton dropped the cup of water and immediately swung around and pulled out his sword that lay in the corner of the room, he struggled to find balance.
In a defensive mode, Luar stood in front of Lithia's bed and growled. But it's growling simmered down when it recognised who had just bombed the house completely.
The sound of crackling fire in the background. The gray smoke was passing by like the wind. And the unpleasant smell that blocked up one's lungs, was as unpleasant as this experience for Luar.
"Aurora Meyer." Luar said, it's voice soaring through the air. Loud and strong.
"Long time no see, dear Luar. An unpleasant first meeting, I sincerely apologize." The lady said. She sounded young, almost like a woman in her twenties. Even the way she dressed. However, what gave her away wasn't her white silvery hair that shined nor was it her wrinkles. It was her aura and eyes that reeked of experience.
The boy next to her stood still with his eyes focused, he pulled out a long sharp sword. Despite his aggressive actions, he greeted them politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you again."
Aurora smiled as she fanned her face with sticks of gold and a guard of ocean blue. "It'd be better if you don't resist." Looking at how Luar wasn't backing down despite seeing the destructive power.
"Lithia doesn't look so good, does she? It'd be better if she comes back with us. Right, dear Luar?" She asked with a sly smile. Every time she flicked her wrist, a cold air breezed by slightly.
Mr Walton was confused. He could've sworn she had seen this woman before. So where had she appeared before in his memories?
Despite the overlapping memories as he searched high and low for a peculiar scene, Mr Walton took action. He held a defensive stance as he built a barrier of wind around Lithia. He held his large longsword vertically and asserted his dominance.
"Oh? Another one. If you won't oblige peacefully then we'll take all three of you back by force." Aurora stated, pulling out 5 red scrolls.
Aurora smiled and a strong gust of wind blew by. Freezing the feet and legs of those who stood. They struggled and kicked. Burning it with all their might.
Suddenly, an arrow engulfed in fires spiked through the air. It locked onto it's target and moved at an insanely fast speed with it's growing destructive power.
The boy from the sideline immediately stepped up and with his sword turning blue, he extinguished the flame with one swipe.
Aurora looked at the intruder as calm as ever. She spotted a young boy with brown maple hair and blue eyes that resembled Lithia's. Her grandson?
"You've grown well." She stated.
"What are you doing to my grandmother?!" Claude yelled, lowering the bow, attempting to slot in another arrow. He hadn't used it in a while so he felt a little rusty.
Aurora glanced at the sky through the broken ceiling and sighed. Cold air escaping from her blood red lips. "It's a shame I only brought 5. But Claude, you should know where we're heading right?"
The boy was glaring at Claude the whole time, not keeping his eyes off him. He slowly got closer to his mother and grabbed the red scrolls.
"We should leave now. The commotion is attracting the villagers here." The boy said as the red scroll slowly burnt into dust as it painted the floor red. It formed a large circle with a star within.
"Make it quick, Owen."
Mr Walton stopped struggling as he aimed to protect instead. If any of them came within the range of his sword, he'd attack. But for now, the ice that chained his feet was impenetrable. The woman in front of him was undeniably strong.
He then spotted Kai through a gap in the building, dashing with a sword in hand. Mr Walton panicked and yelled at the top of his lungs. "Kai! NO!"
And turns out, it was the right call.
Even though Owen was busy painting the floor, he wasted no time swinging the blade directly at the incoming enemy.
In an instant, Owen had it all under control. His blade sat perfectly at the side of the boy's pale neck. Blood dripping.
If Owen did not control his strength halfway through the attack, a head would've been on the ground by now.
Kai winced and didn't move. He didn't know why. But his senses were screaming at him that the person was completely out of his caliber.
"Oh? Another one?" Aurora remarked, tilting her head sideways as she got a closer look.
"We should leave now, mother. It's already done." Owen said as the hand that was not holding the sword began to glow.
"Do as you please."
The whole house flashed blood red and a hot heat blasted through the air. Smoke covered the whole location before it slowly faded away.
Kai and Claude were the only ones left there. Speechless and rooted to the ground.