Eleu opened his eyes slowly, a sense of dizziness was all over, making him feel really lightheaded. He could see the grass below, on his knees, feeling two hands injecting pure darkness into his body. Nobody really realised he was back into consciousness.
-What a lovely reunion, isn't it? -Said Sira from afar while walking triumphantly towards Eleu and Storm. -You did an excellent job -Continued Sira, congratulating his three champions.
-I'll kill you! -Tried to pronounce Storm, still weak from the torture he was going through.
-Sure you will. -Mocked Sira dismissing him with a gesture.
Eleu raised his head, eyes shining bright with white crystalline energy, anger taking over him and the feeling of being powerless slowly replaced by the sense of punishing those hurting others.
Determined to end his enemy, Eleu opened his mouth and screamed his lungs out, like a dragon spitting fire. A giant tongue of energy was released, dividing and crystallizing the arena, pushing Deflex far away from Sira, but he, quick on his feet avoided the attack, laughing as if he enjoyed making the beast angry. The pulse from the wrath threw both MindCrawler and Futura against the walls of the arena, which trembled due to the power.
Eleu stood up, looking around to learn more about the situation. His body shining with power as if his aura was a diamond armour, reflecting light from itself. Storm was still weak but able to move away from them as he could see the devastation about to happen.
Hundreds of soldiers, mercenaries and assassins were aiming lethal Heimisch weapons at the Union members. The audience covering their heads, not being able to move due to Sira's men and their threats of shooting.
Upon the balcony, Bottle and the two Itharblends were stuck, threatened by soldiers holding purple needles, probably containing Ganilandi's touch within them.
-I guess you don't want all these people to die. -Asked Sira keeping his distance. -You see, I might not know what you are, but I have weapons, I have bombs, I have everything I want… and now… I want your power. -He said walking towards Eleu while playfully sliding his fingers over the tongue of crystals.
Eleu kept quiet, analysing the situation to avoid hurting innocent people. His perception increased and his courage triplicated. He could detect the most minor traces of energy in the area, see their colours and feel the iron of the weapons that didn't belong to the realm.
-One wrong move and thousands of people will die. Fun, right? -Kept mocking while circling closer to Eleu. -Your eyes, what are you?
Eleu didn't know the extension of his powers, but doing nothing would mean being captured.
-The thing is… -Answered Eleu -I'm just finding out. -He answered knowing he was touching the first surge of Equa's power.
He slammed the floor with one foot, creating a wave that made the whole stadium vibrate, the energy signal from it reached far and wide, and a gust of wind and light pushed everybody standing to cover their eyes. Dust and smoke expanded, lightly blinding everyone.
-Shoot him! Don't let him do anything! -Screamed Sira realising he was no longer near him. A few explosions around the building occurred and bullets were shot in his direction. Panic took over all the hostages present there.
Moving away from Sira, Eleu hit the ground with his fist while trying to avoid the bullets. The slam divided the arena in two, with a giant break in between making his enemies fear losing balance. Futura, Deflex and MindCrawler were no longer there, a purple cloud could be seen from one of the exits.
Somehow, the energic sight Eleu had was being interrupted by the iron weapons being used around the stadium, but he felt how easy that could be fixed, a high-pitched snap of his fingers made the weapons that the soldiers were holding shatter into pieces, they were turned into thin glass, entirely useless for them now.
-You see, somebody is not happy about your actions... -Said Eleu with a deeper voice that reached the collective mind. He was almost floating in the air over everybody, running and jumping from side to side looking at Sira and then moving an arm to point at those holding Ganilandi's touch. The soldiers keeping the other Itharblends at bay were starting to back down.
-He is a demon! -Screamed in fear one of them noticing Eleu looking in their direction.
With a slight movement of his wrist, all the needles were turned into sand. He then slammed his hands together, creating another pulse reaching each spirit and Itharblend. They all got rejuvenated upon the expansion of his touch, filled with white energy, and both the Itharblends felt as connected as ever to their superiors, Vyron's eyes shining with blue energy, The Barbarian with orange and yellow eyes brimming with power.
-Now, Attack! -Screamed Leora from another balcony.
The Union soldiers stopped admiring the scene and returned to their senses, quickly shaping the battle, chains against fists and knives. Vyron created waves of energy that pulled back soldiers through a whole section of the stadium. The Barbarian jumped multiple floors down while kicking and punching assassins along the way, grabbing any blunt item to throw, crash and punish them.
Bottle disappeared quickly, knowing he had to follow the three traitor champions who tried to escape.
Leora whipped an entire section with her chain, Ryker started evacuating people while fighting some assassins near the main door, and soon after, the battle was changing entirely.
As soon as he saw Sira considering escaping, Eleu raised an arm, another wrist move captured his enemy's feet with thick glass roots, a resilient type that felt unbreakable.
-Very well, let me show you what I can do. -He answered, confident in his talents.
He pulled a blonde-haired doll from his pocket and started pressing its stomach and wrapping it around the neck as if he were strangling the doll.
A great thunder broke the ceiling, making half of it collapse over the almost empty areas of the arena, followed by one of the loudest screams ever heard. It was pure pain, despair, agony and loneliness, cutting through the realm in the form of a titan. A giant black-shaped hand reached with his arm, destroying the rest of the ceiling, his body covered in black ropes, chains, leather stripes and anything that could tie the goo within his constitution.
This was the most enormous creature ever seen. Tremors would happen as he moved, begging for his pain to stop, reaching towards both of them with his arm, screaming and trying to stop Sira from hurting the doll any longer.
-Attack! - Said Sira looking at the giant physical darkness.
A quick arm movement tried to hit Eleu, but he swiftly moved around, jumping and using crystals to shield himself from incoming attacks. The Stadium was almost entirely evacuated from civilians by then, with most of them running in fear, some assassins were also frozen in place before being knocked down by the Union, but everybody could see the Ithar's proportions. Ganilandi brought the darkest night with him, his shape was so dark it could cover the stars, and his screams were so painful that villages away the ambient was still deformed. Pure darkness and goo, taking a humanoid form, trapped by thousands of souls, rituals and belts designed to keep him under control.
After multiple attempts, Ganilandi's hand hit Eleu as he was stepping and evading his attacks in the air between floating glass platforms his feet created upon touch. The impact was huge, throwing him against one of the mountains far from the stadium.
Rain poured over the city that night, but Eleu couldn't notice until the morning after when an exploration team found his body, sank within a deep hole inside the small mountain.
The next morning
It took a few hours by the time the explorers were able to reach him, he was too stuck between the rocks, fortunately, he was still alive as his energy shield covered most of the impact but unconscious due to how much power he used during the battle.
-I would like to know why my sister's daughter is working with the enemy! -Screamed Cilia punching her office's table in front of all of her top Commanders.
Futura was indeed the daughter of Myriad, the Itharblend of the Seers. Now that the city of Linker was attacked and half of it destroyed by explosions and Ganilandi's presence, there was no time for formalities.
"Excuse me", interrupted the floating spirit book. "The kid has been found."
Everybody in the office stood up and left the room quickly, knowing that the kid was the son of two of them.
The exploring team was almost back in town, having a healer in place, travelling near Eleu trying to keep his vitals going. Four doctors and one more healer were waiting for his arrival at a nearby building, used now as a hospital for everybody affected by the attack.
All the commanders walked into the place, guided by a nurse expecting them. As soon as they arrived, Cilia, Ryker and Leora walked into the room.
-His pulse is stable, and his body barely suffered damage from the impact. -Said one doctor showing some reports.
-How's Storm? -Asked Leora finally breathing normally knowing her son was okay.
-He will survive, don't worry. -Replied the doctor.
-Thanks, feel free to do it Cilia - Said Leora, putting her hand over hers.
The Union director touched the kid's forehead, holding her parent's hands with her other arm. Her mind opened to a new dimension. This time, instead of seeing the future, she was seeing the present.
"Hello", said a warm voice.
The three could see a white room inside the kid's mind. Cilia took the lead.
-Who are you?
"My name is Equa. I'm the Equilibrium Ithar", as soon as she finished talking a transfusion of images from the past went into their minds, the creation, the black holes, the portal, the stars… the burn of energy and knowledge was too much for any human, forcing them to stop touching Eleu's forehead.
He woke up right as soon as Cilia's hand disconnected from him.
-Hello family... -Saluted confusely the kid after the best nap of his life.
Their reaction was priceless, they had a million questions about what they had just seen, but the first question that came out to Eleu's head was.
-Did I win?
Both his parents laughed nonstop, making people outside calmer. The whole hospital was praying for his recovery.
-Hey guys, he is awake! -Shouted Marves from the door.
His friends walked in, and the adults knew it was best to let him rest and discuss the matter outside a civilian's hospital. Right outside the room, a giant red feline spirit was waiting for her Itharblend. Cilia said her goodbyes and walked back to the Union headquarters.
-What do you know about an Ithar called Equa? -Asked Cilia to her feline companion once they arrived at her office.
"Oh, that name is certainly interesting to hear. Please, let me call Aethernius to help me with this". Replied the feline, moving from the door and freeing some space for the Reindeer to enter.
They were both too big for that room, elder spiritual creatures filled with knowledge, advising humans for generations.
"Equa created me". He said as he trespassed the door.
Each person in the room got more lost and confused as Aethernius casually walked in. Now they had more questions than ever before.
"And… you just made this more complex", said the red Feline covering her eyes with her tail.
"Allow me to explain", continued the Reindeer ignoring her. "Elder spirits are but a part of our Ithar creator. We exist because they created us to do so, and we stay alive to continue with their original purpose".
Ryker raised his hand to ask a question. Leora hit his forearm so he didn't interrupt the Elder spirit.
"Yes, Mr Ryker?"
-Why is an Ithar inside my son? -The humans in the room nodded as they had the same question.
"That is a formidable question that I can't answer. Perhaps, she saw something special in him?"
-Whatever it is, it doesn't explain why they keep trying to kill him. -Said Leora getting upset as she remember the battle they endured.
"Well, that I can reply myself", interrupted the Feline moving her big head. "Equa disappeared a long time ago. In fact, we don't see an Ithar standing for almost a hundred thousand years, yesterday we saw two."
-Since the first War of the Ithars you mean? -Added Cilia.
"Exactly, the devastation that war had was like nothing we have ever seen before, and after it, the Itharblend of Equa disappeared to the lands on the west. One day he was there. The next one nobody could find him."
-I honestly have more and more questions than before. -Added Ryker throwing his hands to his head in despair.
"I think your explanation is not helping", joked the red feline trying to bother the reindeer.
-We know that Ithars choose their host upon birth, but also we imagined there were only five Ithars in the realm of the spirits... -Spoke Leora trying to solve the mystery.
"Well, that's a bit more complex, back then there were more Ithars than now, some simply died while others are reborn based on the needs of the realm, but this is an extremely odd event most of us have never witnessed." Replied the feline.
"If she is back that means the balance of the world might be about to break and the equilibrium might be lost forever, which could lead to a mass extinction". Concluded the Reindeer, not realising that was one of the worst things he could say.
Silence reigned around the room for a minute…
-You are not kidding, right? -Asked Ryker raising an eyebrow, trying to ease the tension in the room.
"I do not have the capacity to lie or make jokes Mr. Ryker", replied Aethernius, wise and cold as always.
-Which means we are at war, and we are not ready for it. -Said Cilia standing up and looking out the window towards the hospital. -Linex, could you keep an eye on the boy?
The feline agreed and walked out of the room through the wall near her with a respectful nod.
-Ryker, find Sturb and tell him to meet with us as soon as he is recovered.
-Who is… Sturb? -He asked raising his hand again.
-The Barbarian, his real name is Sturb. -Answered Cilia turning around to look at him as if he had been hit in the head, he was clearly distracted lately due to so many events. -Leora…
-I'm on it. I'll get Vyron in here before he leaves the city. -She said standing up and leaving the room behind Ryker.
For a second, Aethernius forgot that he was no longer needed and stood there, waiting for Cilia to give him an order. She looked at him trying to tell him to leave with her eyes.
"Oh, my apologies". He said walking backwards through a near wall.
-Actually, could you find me any books about Equa or the first war? -She asked feeling guilty for kicking him out.
"Of course, the book was given to Eleu when he first experienced his skills. It should be in his house". Happy to have an official assignment, he left the room.
One question kept Cilia at bay, Futura was her sister's daughter, and even though she didn't have any noticeable impact on the events the night before, Sira spoke with her and she left with the other warriors. Was she spying for the Union? Or did Futura betrayed her own family?