Ethan couldn't use his ability no matter how hard he tried; it was as if after Taegen cut off the call, his ability was canceled. Emily and Hadrian too couldn't use their abilities as well, and Ethan knew why.
Finn's ability is nullification. Just being in the same house as this guy reduces whatever power he has to nothing.
Unfortunately, he can't take off his nullifying gem because he's afraid of what might happen if he did.
That night, he was pissed off. He grips the nullifying gem and begins to pull it. The gem began heating up the more he pulled on it, burning his hand.
'Why wouldn't Taegen let me help in the battle?' He thought angrily as he continued to pull it, ignoring the pain he is in from his hand getting burned. 'Did he know that he is going to die?'
Ethan hears a knock on his door. He ignores the knock and continues to pull on the gem. His neck is beginning to hurt as he continues to pull it.
Hadrian opens the door to see what Ethan is doing and how his hand is burning up. Smoke was coming from his burning hand, and Ethan didn't stop pulling the gem around his neck.
"Stop!" Hadrian shouted, running to him.
Ethan didn't hear him; he was focused on getting the gem out of his neck.
So Hadrian goes over to Ethan and pulls his hand away from the gem. The skin on his palm was badly burned, and the shape of the gem is embedded in his palm and around his fingers.
"Why did you stop me?" Ethan asked angrily. His eyes were teary. He's on the verge of crying, but it wasn't from the pain coming from his hand.
Hadrian then hugs him, and Ethan cries silently in his arms.
--------------------------------
Taegen sat outside, looking at the moon, He was lost in his thoughts.
"Taegen," he hears the soft voice of his lover calling his name.
He turns around to see Reginald standing a little distance away from him. He stands up and goes over to him. He sees Reginald looking worried. He strokes his ear gently. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"You've been distant lately," Reginald said, concerned. "I know that we will be fighting a battle soon, but I'm worried about you," he said.
"I have been thinking of a lot of things," Taegen said. "If we both get out of the battle that is about to come," he said, releasing his ear, and clasping Reginald's hand. "Let's get married and start a family together."
Reginald smiled gently. "It's not going to be an 'if', Taegen," he said. "It's when we make it out alive, and we don't need to start a family; we already have a family."
"You've raised Ethan since he was eleven, and let's not forget about Finn," Reginald said.
He grabs Taegen's face, then pecks his lips. "When we survive, let's expand the family we already have."
Taegen grinned. "I love you," he said.
"I love you too," Reginald replies, and they kissed for quite some time.
Reginald smiles at Taegen when they stop, and they both hear a small squeal. They turned around to see Delphine and Aquamarine looking at them with teary eyes.
"That was beautiful," Delphine said, wiping the tears from her eyes, Aquamarine did the same, nodding in agreement.
Reginald's face slowly turned red from embarrassment.
"How long have you been standing there?" Taegen asked in surprise. His face was also flushed with embarrassment.
"When you proposed," Aquamarine said, giggling.
"Don't forget to invite me to the wedding," Delphine said, teasing the couple.
Reginald went limp, and Taegen caught him before he fell. "Bun!" he exclaimed.
"Tell my family I love them," he said in a dazed voice.
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Emily came into the room to see Hadrian hugging Ethan. She saw Ethan's hand, and she rushed over to him.
"What happened?" she asked in worry.
Ethan raised his head, and Emily saw that his eyes were red and puffy. Ethan cried? "What happened?" she asked, taking Ethan into her arms and hugging him.
Ethan didn't speak, and neither did Hadrian. Emily could guess why Ethan cried, so she didn't ask anything else. "If it makes you better, I have a plan to go to Silver Field without anyone knowing," she said.
Ethan looks at her in confusion. "You do?" he asked, his voice a bit high pitched.
'So cute,' Emily thought as she smiled. "Yes, I do," she said, pushing Ethan away gently, "but we have to be secretive about it."
She begins to draw certain symbols with her finger on his palm. Ethan nods in response. "Alright, that could work," he said. "I feel stupid for not thinking of that."
"What did you tell him?" Hadrian whispered in Emily's ear.
"You'll know later," she said. "Right now, let's help Ethan with his wounds," she said. "It looks a bit nasty."
Finn was surprised to see Ethan's wounds. "How did this happen?" he asked in a monotone voice.
Ethan didn't say anything to Finn. Hadrian was the one who spoke instead. "He pulled on the gem."
Finn looks at the nearly blackened gem hanging from the choker around Ethan's neck. "Are you stupid?" he asked blankly.
"What?" Ethan exclaimed, clearly offended.
"Don't you know that the nullifying gem is highly dependent on emotion?" he asked, pointing to the gem. "If you pulled on it while you were angry, it would get hot enough to burn a hole into your hand," he said.
Ethan's mouth gaped open and closed like a fish. He didn't say anything.
"You don't have anything to say?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow. Then he clicked his tongue, taking out a disinfectant from the first aid box.
"Is it just me, or does it seem like Finn and Ethan are a bit alike?" Hadrian said.
Emily nodded. She should know because Ethan scolds her like this quite a lot. It is very rare to see Ethan getting scolded; she must keep this core memory.
Finn looks at Ethan's hand and sighs. "It's pretty bad. We might need to use a healing ray for this," he said. "What is your core type?"
"Dark," Ethan replies.
"One of the rare ones I see," Finn said, raising an eyebrow. "Unfortunately, we don't have any dark based healing rays," he said, then looked Ethan in the eye. "It is going to hurt a lot."
Ethan knows that, the healing ray quickens someone's recovery speed by using the core threads around the body. And since most cores are light-based, most healing rays are light based as well.
"Hold someone's hand if you want to," Finn suggested, but Ethan refused.
"I'm probably going to break their hand," he replies.
Finn shruggs. "Suit yourself."
Finn first cleans Ethan's wounds gently, to get rid of the already dried up fluid around them. He takes out a healing ray that looks like a marker.
Ethan takes a few deep breaths and notices Finn is staring at him blankly. "What?" he asked.
"I want to say you are being dramatic, but with the amount of pain you are about to experience, I would say you are dramatic enough," he said.
Ethan wanted to respond, but his vision darkened before he felt his entire arm placed on a furnace. He stops himself from screaming in pain by clenching his fist and his teeth.
Although that didn't block out the pained whimpers.
Luckily, Finn is stronger than Ethan or else Ethan would have removed his hand and proceeded to beat him up.
He holds his hand down to do the procedure properly. Soon, Ethan's thread began to show on the surface of his skin.
"Ethan's threads are so complicated," Emily said in awe.
When Finn stops using the healing ray soon and takes out an antibiotic ointment. "Are you allergic to antibiotics?" he asks.
Ethan shook his head. He doesn't think he can speak.
"Alright," Finn said, applying the antibiotic ointment to Ethan's wound. He had only healed it halfway; he didn't go all the way because he was afraid that Ethan might damage his teeth from clenching them so hard.
He professionally wrapped Ethan's hand with bandages. He takes out his hand, confusing Ethan. "Your other hand," he said.
Ethan had clenched his left hand so hard that it had begun to bleed. He hands the hand to Finn, who takes out disinfectant and cotton wool to clean and dress the wounds.
"Taegen told me to tell you not to behave the way you usually do in Silver Field when you arrive at your new school tomorrow," Finn said, placing bandages on the small wounds. "Something tells me you don't have a good reputation in Silver Field."
"I don't like any of the people there," Ethan said.
Finn shruggs. "I don't care about what you do or how you live your life, but Taegen cares about you and your wellbeing, so I have no other choice but to care," Finn said, looking at Ethan seriously. "Please try not to do anything that would cause him to regret his decision to take care of you."
Finn packed up the first aid kit and stood up. "I know that you plan on joining the battle, and I fully support you, but I will not disobey Taegen's command to nullify your abilities. So whatever plan you have to help, do it and save Taegen from his upcoming fate."