I turned my gaze to the top, and I found a man with black armor standing on top of this gigantic tube. His eyes were watching down at us, and I knew immediately what his identity was.
"Zero." I called his name, and the black knight clapped his hand.
"That was really quick. As expected of the daughter of the village. Everyone from that village has always surprised me, even that annoying kid over there." Zero pointed his finger at Nathan, who was lying down not far from me.
Aside from him, there was nobody else. I was confused as to why we were the only ones here, and I realized he purposely separated us from the others.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked Zero, and the tyrant only laughed.
"Well, they are fighting for their lives… under the dream test I've made." Zero said while shaking his shoulder, and I remember he was talking about the dream world I just went through.
He then remembered something about me, and spoke it aloud. "And that surprised me… your dream… was about him?"
Zero said with curiosity, and it seems like he knew exactly what my dream was. "Aren't you a creepy one for staring into someone's dream?"
"No, I didn't have that ability. But, you were mumbling his name a lot. You went 'Nathan…', 'Nathan, I'm sorry', and so on." Zero told me while playing around with his voice, mocking me.
But, other than embarrassment, I only feel annoyed that he was so right. I did dream about Nathan, but that is none of his business. However, it seems like he is more meddlesome than I thought.
"And you… spilled one more thing in your sleep." Zero continued with such a serious tone, and I became curious.
"And that is?"
"You're… his sister?"
I opened my eyes wide from Zero's guess, and I would never have said anything like that even in my sleep. This guy… he definitely knew that from outside sources.
"Who told you? I'd never say that, even in my sleep."
"Haha! You're pretty smart! Well, I can't say much about that. But what I can say is… Wow. Between siblings? Never thought it was possible." This black knight is purposely riling me up, but I never cared for any of his words anyway.
Instead, I just turned my gaze to Nathan who was sleeping next to my feet. I kneeled and tried waking him up, but it seems like his dream world is just as difficult as I imagined for him. He is crying heavily, and he is muttering things that seem incoherent.
"That child… he is pretty damn broken inside, huh?" Zero muttered, and I turned my cold glare at him.
"Let him go." I said coldly, but the dark knight only lifted both his hands.
"I can't do that. He must free himself." Zero said while having his hands lifted, and I just lifted Nathan's head up.
I held his face with both my hands, and I placed my forehead into his. Seeing my act, the black knight whistled from amazement.
"This is fun to watch, after all." He mumbled, but I do not care for any of his words.
"Nathan… wake up." I called out with my forehead touching his, but Nathan isn't budging. I tried focusing some more, and I even used my ability.
Beforelong, dark flames appeared on my entire body. The flames are burning me, but they aren't hot at all. With the dark flames around me, I was wondering if it will have any effects, but surprisingly it's quite effective.
"Nathan." I called his name once more, and I can feel his breathing beating fast. He is reacting, which means this is working.
"Impossible…" Zero mumbled while watching from above, but I kept on focusing.
"Nathan… wake up. I'm right here… don't let the dream consume you." I said to the sleeping boy, and beforelong his eyes were opened.
Nathan's red eyes appeared right in front of mine, and it took him a while to realize what was happening. "Fel…icia…"
"Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" I asked while still keeping our foreheads touching, and Nathan cried even harder.
"Yes… I can't handle it. I'm sorry…" He hugged me after remembering, and I just allowed him to pull me. And whilst we were hugging, the man above us began to lose patience.
"Would you look at that… you actually did the impossible." Zero commented, and Nathan became aware of his presence.
Nathan quickly stood up and took out his sword, and so did I. He studied the surroundings for a while, and he noticed that we were stuck inside a giant copper tube for whatever reason.
"Copper?" he asked quickly, and I nodded.
"Melt it." I commanded, and he lifted his hand without waiting.
VWOOOMMM!!!!!!
Nathan quickly shoots out multiple fire waves around us, not caring about the fire burning us at all. Because we're both fire origins, we have a high level of resistance to heat, so getting burned for a bit doesn't really matter for us.
Beforelong, all the copper surrounding us melts, and it reveals to us all the other copper tubes that were inside this basement. There are three more copper tubes, and the others must be inside the tubes. This room also looked like a laboratory, and a massive tank filled with glowing blue liquid was found on one side of the walls.
Seeing that we have decided to do things violently, Zero jumped down from the top of the copper tube that had melted. He folded his hands while staring at us, and we just prepared ourselves for battle.
"Aren't you curious about why your village was destroyed?" Zero asked us, and I knew right away that this was bait from him to stall.
"Nathan, melt the other tubes. Don't listen to him." I said coldly to Nathan, and he realized what I was saying.
If we were inside one of the tubes, then the others must be in the other tubes as well. We should get them out of there and wake them up.
"But, even if we do get them out, they're still asleep. You're the only one who can wake them up." Nathan pointed out, and I realized that he was right.
"Can you two stop messing with my plans? Seriously, you siblings are just a pain in the ass." Zero said while taking out his two black swords on each hand, and his words surprised Nathan.
"What makes you think we're siblings?" Nathan asked out of confusion, and Zero laughed aloud. The black knight then turned to me for my opinion, but I just placed my hand on Nathan's shoulder.
"I'll help the others. Buy me time… and don't listen to him." I said coldly while still keeping my enraged eyes to Zero, and Nathan nodded in understanding.
I turned around and headed for the first copper tube, and I enchanted my sword with the dark fire origin. I swiped the sword really hard to break through, and I managed to get inside after three slices.
In the meantime, the two nemesis had a rather important conversation.
"She is… my father's daughter?" Nathan mutters from genuine confusion, and Zero laughs seeing his expression.
"Hey! Take your time back there! In the meanwhile, I'm filling your… little brother with everything!" Zero said with such a cheerful personality, and I just bit my lips as I tried waking Jonah up with my dark fire origin.
I'm sorry… I shouldn't be the one telling you that. And you… should've never known.
I can feel Nathan's gaze staring at me while my hand was touching Jonah's forehead, and he went silent for quite a while. After processing everything, Nathan only laughed.
"So, that's why? Seriously, I thought you just hated me!" Nathan said towards me aloud from across the room, and I turned my tearful face towards him.
"Nathan… I'm sorry." I said to him while Jonah was slowly waking up behind me, and my half brother only shook his head.
"I don't mind that! I don't mind that at all! In fact, I'm happy that I know now. Because I was never alone, after all!" He said with such a massive grin in his face, and it felt like I wanted to just curl and cry from embarrassment.
I punched the ground from my emotions released, and I can feel the pain inside my chest rapidly disappearing. Instead, what I feel now is something else that is very new.
Relieve. Now that the secret is out, I can finally breathe normally.
And Nathan's reaction to it, while it was still quite early, I can see that he doesn't hate me one bit.
I'm… very glad.
"Seriously…? You two are more disgusting than I thought." Behind Nathan, Zero just muttered carelessly.
By the time Nathan turned his gaze back to him, he was already activating his Limit Break. His eyes are filled with unbearable rage, and Zero knows right away that this laboratory room is about to be heated.
"You'll pay… for everything."