"Just show me already." Ashra continued asking. This time he didn't kick; he instead grabbed Vino by his hair. bringing him in close.
"This bracelet doesn't match you at all. You have white hair and blue eyes. Just like your mother. Except you have that cursed mark. Just like me." Ashra held in another smirk.
"I am disappointed in you, Vino."
Ashra lifted Vino into the air by his neck. Ashra watched Vino wince in pain, having no reaction.
Tsk!
Ashra threw Vino to the side and began walking off. Vino looked up just barely, his vision blurry.
"And I will be taking her with me." Vino felt dismayed.
"No," Vino muttered. He bit his tongue and used his strength to yell.
"NO! GIVE HER BACK!" Vino used all of his strength to stand up again.
Ashra turned around and looked slightly entertained. Meanwhile, Vino was just barely keeping himself from bleeding out.
"I may not be strong. But I never give up."
Huff. Huff.
Vino was getting exhausted; he could barely keep himself standing, and his vision was failing him. He could see various shadowy objects quickly appearing and vanishing in his vision
He could see a sword lying on the ground in front of him; it was pitch black, and not much more could be seen through the blurs.
What is that?
Vino bent down to grab the so-called sword, but when he grabbed, he didn't feel anything. But he felt some type of energy pooling in his hand.
Ashra twisted a vine around his arm and made a weapon using one of the red thorns.
"So, are you ready now?" Ashra yelled.
Vino felt his vision returning to normal, and the flickering between the shadowy visions halted. He kept grabbing onto the so-called sword, and he lifted slowly.
Ashra felt some type of energy and immediately went into a fighting stance. Ashra dashed forward and took a stab at Vino.
Vino had lifted his arm a little more, and he pulled a sword out of thin air.
"What?!" Ashra said as the thorn made contact with the blade that appeared out of nowhere. Sadly, Vino didn't take the impact well and flew backwards, landing on his back. The sword seemed to vanish into thin air once again.
Ashra ran up to Vino again and Vino blocked a stab with his hand, grabbing the thorn and snapping the end off of it. Ashra was surprised that Vino hadn't stared bleeding from the stab. In fact, he didn't take any damage.
Vino jumped up at Ashra and swung his hands around a few times. The slow and tired swings posed no threat to Ashra.
"This is pitiful." Ashra turned around and began walking off. He waved his hand, and the vines around Rina returned to the ground, leaving her teary eyed and distraught. "Meet me at the academy, Vino. But remember, our father is a greedy man. Don't expect it to be easy."
Ashra kept walking as all the vines vanished into the ground. Rina ran over to Vino, knowing he probably was not doing too well.
"Vino!" Rina called out, hoping that he was okay. There was no response. Vino ignored Rina and slowly walked towards his mother, who was on the ground.
Please be okay. Please be okay.
It repeated in his mind. Every step took eternity. Rina stood still with a grim look on her face.
When Vino finally reached where Aria was lying, he fell over.
Vino had a sigh of relief. She is okay.
Vino passed out around the same time Anne had awoken and went into an attack stance. She had turned into a human, but it was too late to make a difference.
Anne looked at the situation and was horrified. "Rina! What happened?"
Silence.
Rina began walking towards Aria and Vino. No sword, hair down, and tears pouring down her face. She collapsed to her knees when she got to Vino, not being able to hold in her emotions.
"VINO!" She cried loudly. Anne looked down and felt ashamed at what had happened. She couldn't do anything.
***
"It sure is a pity that he wasn't stronger, but that power." Ashra was talking to what looked like an entourage of people, he must've been someone important.
"Lord Ashra! Your face!" A lady wearing maid attire ran up and began patting his cheek with a handkerchief. He grabbed her hand and looked at it. There was blood.
When did he injure me?
His hand began shaking for a second before he got his composure.
"Prepare the carriage!" Ashra snapped his finger, and in an instant everyone around him began working.
'Vino may be more interesting than I thought.'
***
Luckily, some of the local villagers saw the commotion on the hill. Aria was breathing but wasn't responsive, Rina was emotionally distraught, and Vino was in his own world.
The healer of the village tried to heal him, but his wounds seemed to deny the healing. Rina stayed by his side for days, until he woke up.
Vino opened his eyes, and immediately noticed something was off. He was looking at the ceiling, and saw three pitch black fairies flying around. They seemed to be playing with each other.
All of a sudden, a stinging pain struck his mind. It was memories that happened while he was asleep. "Thats right, Frags showed me a bit more of the past...But it was strange; it looks like he won't be able to help as much as I thought."
Vino looked back up to see the little fairies phase through the roof, disappearing for good.
"What bizarre creatures!" Vino sat up some and looked around a bit, noticing the sword that he had used before was in his hand again, but had no weight to it.
"This definitely has something to do with my ability." Vino noticed Rina sleeping in a chair beside him, her face planted on the bed. He grabbed his cover and threw it over her.
This caused her to wake up. Even when she slept, she was a beauty. She lifted her head and didn't say a word. She just hugged Vino for what seemed like an eternity.
"I'm sorry, Vino."
"It's ok, don't say a word." Vino looked over to see his mother still sleeping, he assumed the worst when he saw a purple pattern on her neck.
"Damn that bastard! She's poisoned!" Vino hugged Rina tighter.
"The nurse told me she would recover. It isn't lethal, but it keeps someone sleeping for a long time." Rina said.
"Its all my fault," Vino said. He was ashamed of herself
"-cademy"
A voice caught Vino and Rina's attention. They both looked over to the still-sleeping Aria.
"Academy..." Aria mumbled in her sleep, "Have fun...Academy."
Aria was still dead asleep, and the purple flower symbol on her neck had yet to dissipate.
"Vino!" Rina looked him in the eyes. "We need to leave today or we won't be there by the time the induction ceremony starts!"
"But," Vino tried to say, but was interrupted.
"I will watch her, it will be a slow recovery. And besides, we all owe her one. Without Aria, we wouldn't be a village."
The nurse walked in and sighed. "YOU have been our most troublesome patient, Vino. I had to rely on your body's natural healing capabilities."