The outside of the building was calm and somber. Passersby stared confused at the tear-stained faces of Xander's friends, unaware of the heavy knowledge of the expedition team's fate. Walking out of place with his friends, Xander was the only one not crying. He didn't know anyone who had perished in the attack, after all. That's not to say he wasn't upset, though. He remembered what it was like when he thought he had lost his sister that one time. That feeling was what allowed him to sympathize with his friends.
"There are some benches up ahead, do you want to sit down?" Xander asked softly to the crew, holding out his arm to a fish pond, weeping willows draping their slender leaves like forgotten whispers. Each leaf seemed to sag under the weight of silent grief, swaying in the still air as though even the wind had lost its will to stir them. They hung down into the water as if the tree itself mourned for something lost.
Stumbling but taking the lead, Kylo wiped his face and marched over to a shaded bench underneath the mourning tree and had a seat. Xander stood back, letting the others pass him by. Aspen, Apollo, and then Jinx, all sitting down at the half-shaded bench.
Xander sat with Kylo underneath the tree in the cool shade, rocking back and forth wondering what to say.
A gentle breeze blew as Kylo spoke, staring at the ground underneath his feet.
"It's my fault they're gone."
No one moved.
The breeze kept blowing.
"What do you mean it's your fault?" Xander asked, leaning forward.
Sighing and moving his head slightly, leaning his body on the steel armrest, he licked his dry lips and clicked his tongue.
"I suggested they take the exam alternative." He choked back his tears.
The wind stopped and Xander's hair fell back in place, revealing his eyes, looking deep into Kylo's as if he were trying to read his soul.
"Hey… why would you tell them to do that?" Apollo spoke up from the other bench. "Why didn't you tell them to stay?" There was an unusual tranquility in his voice.
Everyone was silent, the only other noise being the sizzle of Apollo's tears evaporating from the heat he was creating.
"They were scared… You know? Of fighting. They didn't want to fight each other. We have, you know, powerful magic in our class. Even if people like Amiel, with his precognition, would be formidable opponents, they didn't want to fight; they were averse to it."
Apollo fell back into his slump, letting out a long sigh. He looked like he wanted to forgive his buddy, but he couldn't come to it. Aspen, in the middle of the bench, was clamping her hand over her mouth, looking like she was about to throw up. Jinx, sitting on the shaded half of the bench, zoned out again, solemnly staring at nothing in particular.
Once again, everyone sat quietly. That was until Xander spoke up.
"How was he supposed to know? He didn't think this would happen. In the moment, he thought it would have solved their fears about combat."
The weight was now shifted toward Xander.
"I don't mean to say anything wrong… That's just how I see it…" Xander trailed off, silencing himself.
"You didn't say anything wrong, Xander" a reluctant voice spoke up. It was Aspen. Pulling her light blue winter coat up, and fixing it, she cleared her throat. "We're all just a little shaken up, okay?" She smiled half-heartedly. Everyone except for Kylo nodded somberly. His stomach also rumbled.
"You hungry?" Xander asked, bumping his friend on the shoulder.
He begrudgingly nodded, turning to look Xander in his eyes.
Everyone besides Kylo stood up.
Apollo barked at Kylo. "Get up, I'm so hungry I could eat this building."
Kylo chuckled. His friend was being his usual self. Getting up, he took a deep breath. "Then get to it."
Taking the lead from Apollo, the group walked right passed the dining hall and towards small on-campus shops. Lined with flowers of all kinds and an overly welcoming ambiance, the storefronts called out to the students. Xander turned his head to look at where they had come from, the gloomy dining hall now shaded by clouds hovering over it. Quickly turning his head back to the shops, he let out a relieving sigh.
"What's it gonna be, guys?" Xander asked, eyeing the green door decorated with flowers. Without speaking, they went in.
Inside it resembled a..
"Convenience store?" Xander muttered, remembering the convenience store in his neighborhood. "Why is there a store like this in this world?"
"Xander, where did you bring us?" Jinx asked, staring at a hot dog roller.
"A store."
"What's this?" Apollo pointed to a taquito.
"A taquito!" Xander gleamed at the sight, remembering one of his favorites from his home convenience store.
Apollo cocked his head at Xander, who was now placing every taquito from the roller into a paper bag. Scurrying over to the counter, he paid the clerk and started munching on his snacks.
"Uhhh…" Apollo's mouth was ajar, lips curled in confusion.
"Want one?" Xander asked between bites, greedily eating and talking with his mouth full. Apollo could not understand a word he was saying.
"Give me one dude" He snatched one out of the bag with combat-level speed, singeing the bag in the process. Apollo reluctantly took a small bite, processed it, and scarfed it down just as quickly as Xander did the majority of the bag.
Jinx giggled as she watched the two eat. "So aggressive…"
Everyone laughed and looked at Jinx, who got embarrassed and started to play with her bangs.
As the room slowed again, all eyes were on Xander.
"So… what is this place, like actually?" Aspen asked.
"It resembles a convenience store like the one I had around where I'm from. It's basically the exact same, it's weird." Xander explained.
"Oh, interesting," Aspen said.
Kylo butted in; "That's right, I passed by that store a lot when I was there with you."
In the freezer aisle were tons of products familiar to Xander, only with different names. Aspen peered through the glass at an assortment of ice cream and gasped.
"What is it?" Apollo asked suddenly, defensively.
"Ice cream! I haven't had it in forever! I remember it being really good though."
"But it's cold," Apollo remarked.
"But it's good," Aspen responded.
"..."
She picked up two tubs of ice cream and a box of cones and headed towards the counter. Taking the items back after paying for them, she beckoned for the crew to exit the building and go to the tables set up directly outside.
She sat down and opened a tub. Apollo jumped.
"What's the matter with you, dude?" Kylo asked Apollo, a little confused.
"Um… Nothing! Why do you think there is something wrong with me?" Apollo stuttered, looking at the tub of ice cream, shooting flames around haphazardly.
"Put your flames away! Eep! It's melting!" Aspen shrieked, trying to encase the now-melting ice cream in a dome of ice. She turned her head and glared at Apollo.
"Dang…" While it wasn't obvious to them, Apollo was in fact trying to melt the ice cream on purpose. He dispelled the flames, just as Aspen did the same for the ice.
She materialized an ice cream scoop into her hand using ice. "What is your problem dude?"
"I- uh… I don't like ice cream. It's too cold for me. It makes it hard to produce good fire." Apollo answered.
There was a pause…
The entire group erupted in laughter.
"You're afraid of ice cream?" Kylo slugged him on the shoulder lightly.
"That's so funny!" Jinx wiped a tear from her eye as she was laughing.
Aspen shook her head disappointedly. "All right guys, who wants a scoop?"
The group, excluding Apollo, finished their ice cream cones and all felt much better after the news earlier.
"Ugh… I'm going to barf…" Xander said.
"You shouldn't have had that many taquitos," Jinx scolded him playfully.
"Oh come on, you should have tried one too, you would have loved it."
"You ate them all!" she laughed
"Oh… you're right" Xander chuckled defensively. "I'll have to get you one sometime then."
"Okay…" Jinx smiled softly, blushing just a little bit.
Through the corner of their eyes across the courtyard they watched as a group of people somberly exited the dining hall. Among that group, two people caught Xander's eye. There was Shiro, but she was clung tightly to the side of a guy who he had only recognized from earlier that day. It was Ken Clayton. She seemed so happy to be with him, but his facial expressions were blank. "I mean… he did just lose his friends, after all," Xander thought to himself.
As if Shiro could hear Xander's thoughts remotely, she snapped her head towards him and brought Ken in tow.
"Hey~!" She squealed, motioning for them to look at Ken as if he were some kind of prize.
Nobody gave a response to her enthusiastic greeting.
"Babe, I want you to meet my classmates!"
An audible sigh could be heard coming from each of Xander's friend's mouths.
"They… don't seem enthusiastic?" Ken asked, tilting his head slightly, scanning the faces in front of him.
"They're just jealous!"
"I'm not jealous, I just don't know this guy," Xander replied, scanning Ken's face just as much as he was to him.
"I don't know any of you guys, either" Ken blankly stated.
"What?- You were in class with Mr. Strong over here" Shiro gawked, pointing at Kylo.
"Mr. Strong?" Ken chuckled and leaned in, seemingly interested.
"Did you hit your head?! His name is Kylo Bolt, he's really strong and was also blessed with speed. I'm sure you could beat him, though! You make anyone look weak!" Shiro gushed, going on a tangent about strength.
"Oh, yeah. Right, right…"
"Shiro is obsessive over strength it seems" Xander noted, recalling his first-ever meeting with her where she called him weak, pursing his lips.
"The hell?" Kylo was stunned. "I ran into you every day at school and you don't even know me? We were in class together last year at the junior academy. Partners, even!"
"Right, sorry. After what happened to the expedition team, I'm just a little shaken up, you know?" Ken stated, correcting himself.
"Hm…"
"I think I remember you guys, though," Ken said. "Everyone except for you." He pointed directly at Xander.
Pushing his arm down, Shiro booted in; "He doesn't matter! He's some weakling from Earth Zero! Anyway, I'm sure Aspen here is just dying of jealousy, I get a hot boy and she doesn't~!" Shiro turned to Aspen, still nagging everyone.
Interjecting himself into the conversation, Apollo yelled, "What does my sister have to do with this? Besides, why would she be jealous of a guy who can't even remember his old classmates?"
"It's fine, Apollo, she can think what she wants! It's her delusion," Aspen shrugged Shiro's comments off.
"What? I can't believe you just said that. Like he said, he just experienced a traumatic experience, of course he is going to be shaken up. I can't believe you guys. Come on, babe, we're out of here," Grabbing Ken's arm and pulling him along, she stormed off the scene. Ken stared back at Xander while being dragged away. Xander shuddered.
"Creepy." Xander thought.
"What even was that?" Kylo laughed, confused.
"I don't know…" Aspen questioned. "Was he always like that? I barely remember him."
"Nah, he was always good with his head. I guess Shiro had a point, he must be shaken…" Kylo started to trail off and look away but shook his head as if to fight a bad thought sneaking up on him.
"At least he recognized you all in the end. I want to know why he kept staring at me, though," Xander pondered.
"He must think you're cute," Kylo jokingly figured.
Sighing, Xander looked Kylo in the eyes; "I think Shiro would kill me if she found out he thought that."
"True. Lemme make jokes, man" Kylo spoke defeated.
"He didn't seem right…" Jinx added. "My hex magic was detecting a curse nearby," she spoke matter-of-factly.
"He has a memory loss curse!" Kylo laughed at his own joke hysterically, even though it was not funny.
"I'm not sure. I don't know much about hex magic but I'd assume an attacker wouldn't have enough time to put a curse intricate enough to affect a living person if the victims were resisting," Aspen figured. The group nodded.
"Who am I to know? I wasn't there," Jinx shook her head.
"Yeah, I guess so," Aspen finished.
"You guys are just stretching things," said Apollo. "It's baseless and I don't care."
Stepping out onto the sidewalk, Kylo beckoned for everyone to follow him. "Let's go check out the river."
"What river?" Xander asked, suddenly excited.
It was just beyond 3:00 PM now and the group was standing on a cobblestone bridge over top a river. It was a normal river, nothing unique about it.
"Why are we here again? It's just a river," Apollo asked.
"You were one of the first people to start moving when I said the word 'river,'" Kylo replied.
"Every time I come through here it's cool though!"
Xander was happy. The river was peaceful and nice. There was a breeze coming off of the water, blowing his hair around. He was reminded of the beach from his home, as well as the one here in this world. Still watching the flowing water, he turned to the group. "Since when does a school have a river?"
"Haha yeah your old school was lame" Kylo giggled.
"Just how big is this campus, anyway? I find some new area here every second. Getting to the nurse's office after the fight was hard, too. I spent thirty minutes finding it."
"It's forty-five square miles."
"What?"
"Forty-five square miles."
"We heard you the first time, dingus. He was asking a rhetorical question." Apollo interjected.
"That's just excessive…" Xander said, noting the grand watchtowers at each corner of the hexagonal enclosure they were in.
"Excessive or not, it's amazing. We got lucky! We don't have to hide in a shelter like the rest of the town probably is doing right now, we are free to roam around."
Xander nodded, remembering Max's absence from class. "I guess that is an upside."
The school was a marvel of gothic architecture, in absolute honesty. Saying grand was an understatement. The school's entrance resembled that of an eloquent palace or university, but behind the school was what could only be described as a labyrinth of walls, courtyards and other scenery. Around the school was, in fact, a protective barrier, which is why the school's not-very-obvious lockdown didn't restrict student movement within the walls.
On the other side of the bridge were the girls of the group, watching the water come out from underneath the bridge and vanish into a gap in the wall eighty feet ahead of them.
"I keep forgetting there is a declared disaster going on outside. It's just so nice in here," Aspen commented, fixing her blue coat.
Jinx nodded affirmatively. "Max has it." They both sat in wonder at what it was like for Max, fighting off beasts alongside whoever else the board sent. Their thoughts were interrupted by a splash then a rumbling. Apollo came flying back up, completely drenched. He hovered over the edge of the bridge, staring at a Kylo who was laughing like a hyena.
"You think that was funny?" Apollo roared, enveloping himself in a flame as if to dry himself off, and to potentially intimidate Kylo.
Xander sat shaking his head.
"Hell yeah, it was! 'It's just a river.' Well, that was just a joke." Kylo gestured.
"I'd burn you alive if I didn't have self-control," Apollo shot, although it didn't faze Kylo.
"Ah, yeah. I see," Kylo didn't care, he was still grinning.
Descending back to the ground and distinguishing his flames, Apollo felt his fire-colored robe and exhaled. "All better," he finally said, content.
"Are you scared of ice cream AND water?" Kylo rolled laughing more.
"You sure crack yourself up, don't you?" Apollo's fist was on fire as he roared at Kylo, ready to throw a punch.
Sighing, Aspen shook her head. "Boys..."
Stopping, both of them looked at her. "What did I do?" Apollo asked, extinguishing his fire and hiding his fist behind his back after realizing that he had in fact done something.
"Let's go elsewhere" Aspen merrily suggested.
"Like where? We spent quite a bit of time here" Xander said, genuinely thinking about anything that could possibly be within this massive school.
"We could go to the next section over, I forget what's in there" Kylo pointed to the archway continuing down the path.
Walking to the archway, Jinx fell back to where Xander was walking.
"How has your day been?"
"It's… well, ignoring what happened in the dining hall, it's been pretty good. Haven't seen Max at all today, that's been noticeable for sure. How abo-" Xander cut himself short. For some reason, images of his old friend Annalise appeared in his head.
"Don't forget about me, Xander." She said in his mind. Xander kept walking, quiet. He tried to quit thinking of her.
"Are you okay?" Jinx asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks," He replied. As he turned his head to look at his friend, he saw Annalise once again, but this time in place of Jinx.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He facepalmed. "She's not Annalise. Why am I even thinking of her in the first place? I haven't seen her in a while now, and besides, it's not like she is my friend anymore anyway," he thought.
Intently staring at Xander, Jinx faltered a little. "Okay…" They continued to walk, in silence.
The three others in front of them stopped in front of a large door, which stood as an entryway into a strange room. As they walked inside, they stood in awe.
"Is that…armor? Hell yeah, that's sweet!" Apollo childishly ran to a series of display cases containing several magical-looking armor sets.
"There's a placard telling you about them, dingus" Kylo teased, stepping up to said placard. "This blue armor is… Aeron the Stormbound. The red armor is Kalar the Flameheart. Green... Elowen, the Verdant Sentinel. Apparently these are heroes of ancient legend who fought in the ancient wars we heard about in class before. Oh, I guess you weren't there for that, Xander," He cleared his throat. "'Aeron alone faced the Leviathan in a fierce battle at sea, defending the shoreline. With his command over water, he led the creature into a whirlpool of his own creation, trapping it at the ocean's bottom for eternity.'"
Despite there being different rankings to creatures in this world, such as Basilisks having common to mythical rarity, there were four creatures that trumped them all, each seemingly being immortal. Those four were Leviathan, Typhon, Quetzalcoatl, and Jörmungandr. Among the residents of Orion, they were known as the Beasts of Legend. On Earth Zero, they were part of individual cultures found throughout different eras.
"He sounded powerful…" Apollo gawked at the armor in front of him.
"He was. He single-handedly fought Leviathan."
"What about the other two?" Apollo eagerly inquired like a child.
"Hmm… Okay. "Elowen… Oh, jeez-" Kylo took a step back before taking another look at the placard. "She defended Elder Forest against Quetzalcoatl in 2300 BCE while donning Aegis! This armor is old!"
Xander piped up with a question. "Kylo, you told me magic was discovered in the year 500. What's up with 2300 BCE, then?"
"I think that's easy to answer. Magic was manifesting within select people and something happened that spread it to the general population." Kylo's explanation made sense but lacked details to it. Xander nodded. "Still, though. It's hard to believe that this armor has been kept in this pristine condition for thousands of years."
"I wouldn't touch that armor if I were you," a voice sounded from the doorway. It was Adrian.
"We're just looking, no need to get worked up," Apollo retorted
"I'm not worked up. However, these armor sets were gifts to my family. I'd rather you not mess with them," Adrian stepped up and stared through the glass cases.
"They're pretty awesome gifts, then! Have you ever worn them?" Kylo asked.
Offended by the question, Adrian snapped. "Worn them? Are you crazy? They're heavy as hell. It's insane to even think that someone wore them before. Besides, we have them in glass to show authority. Admire them." With that, Adrian continued down the path and went out the other doorway.
"I hope we don't run into him later" Aspen sighed, stepping up to read the last placard. "Kalar… 'Kalar the Flameheart gave his life fighting against Typhon. The conditions of his self-sacrifice were clear; Typhon was to be sealed in the depths of Tartarus for all of eternity upon his death. All that remains of Kalar's memory are stories passed down from generation to generation and his armor, the Infernal Plate."
Apollo looked obsessed over the Infernal Plate. "I think I deserve this armor! I absolutely do! He sounds so cool! Except for the dying part. I'm stronger than that!"
"Apollo… Typhon struck fear into even the Gods. Do you not remember anything? I doubt you'd have stood your ground against him." Aspen smoothly said to Apollo.
"You're just a hater."
The clock outside struck eight PM. "Wait… It's eight? PM? We've been here for hours!" Kylo yelled, shocked.
"I don't mind, it's neat stuff we're looking at here," Aspen said with a caring undertone. "I do think we should start going home, though. I think we're all getting tired," pointing to Jinx, who yawned as if on cue.
"You're right," Kylo replied, moving from the placard. "Jinx I believe you're closest so we'll see you off first, lead the way home!"
Reluctantly, Jinx stepped forward. She nodded.
Aspen was at her side in a heartbeat and matched her pace.
It was pretty late into dusk outside, barely illuminated by street lamps.
"Let's hurry up and all get home soon, I can't wait to lay in a soft bed and sleep!" Kylo walked giddily.
As the crew turned a corner into an alleyway that had been overtaken by nature, the lamps grew more and more dim. Eventually, they stopped shining at all. Numerous flowers grew on vines escaping cracks in the wall and going into the buildings on either side of them. Apollo stepped forward and ignited a fireball in his hand to illuminate their path.
"Good thing we have an Apollo, they're great for for the dark." Kylo complimented.
"I'm just suited for being needed everywhere, also I'm one of a kind, baby. Ain't no one as useful as me," Apollo confidently gleamed.
Despite Apollo's helpful fire, it was still too dark for the group to know exactly where they were going. The light from his fire only made the dark alleyways even more eerie.
"It's creepy here," Aspen muttered, moving closer to her brother's light. "We're almost there, right?"
Jinx nodded.
"No one would make the mistake of making a move on us with my fire out" Apollo heartily laughed.
"Are you sure about that?" a sly, sadistic, yet sweet voice came from an upcoming archway.
The group huddled closer together as the figure showed itself, alongside four other figures.
"Iris? What are you doing here?" Kylo gasped, stepping in front of Jinx as if to shelter her. Apollo's fire burned brighter.
"No need to resort to violence. All I did was play along to your silly joke. We're all students, are we not? Let's have some fun." She licked her lips and fixed the side of her suit that had fallen down her arm.
"What are you doing here?" Kylo barked.
"A little birdie told me you were coming this way" she smiled.
"Adrian, that damn-" Kylo gritted his teeth.
"I'm not going to do anything to you guys. Just give me what I want," pointing to Jinx.
"Back off, you're not getting her!" Kylo said, readying his stance, and motioning for the others to do the same.
"You see, she took something from me. My birthright. She took the power to perform hex magic from me."
The group looked confused. Aspen spoke up; "What do you mean 'took the power to perform hex magic' from you? You have your own magic, right?"
She giggled maniacally. "You're right, I have my own ability! However, it's only half of what it ought to have been. You see… Jinx is a mistake. A fluke. A flaw. A thief!"
Jinx hid behind Aspen and Kylo.
"Xander, stand behind Jinx," Kylo told him, just in case.
"We are twins. Just like you and your sister," she looked at Apollo. "Twins are disgusting. One person, split in two, and forced to live life with half of what they could have been. Think about it, if you two weren't twins, one of you would have had both fire and ice! You would have been so much stronger. But instead, you're both weak, unimportant halves of one another," Iris spat, glaring at them both with disgust. "Twins, from the beginning of conception, are two from the same concurrently. Thus the pregnancy process is divided to handle two children. My power, you see, should have been the ability to conjure!" Iris was lost in a tangent.
"And what of it? Not everything works out that way. Magic isn't genetic," Kylo retorted.
"It isn't genetic, you're right. As dumb as you are, I'll give you that. However, when that thing was born, I lost half of the ability that I should have gotten. It is obvious, is it not? Imbuing a strong illusion with a curse is no less than a pseudo-summon. If you do the very basic math, she has the other half of my ability. My father has the power to summon beasts! If that isn't a testament to what I should have, then I don't know what is. The truth is, above all, I need to assimilate my sister's soul into mine. I need to fix the universe's flaw. I need to right what is wrong! I need to give myself the life I deserve."
"Thanks for the speech, Iris. Very inspiring!" Joules placed his hand on her shoulder as he approached from behind, now at her side. "I'm not one to sit idly by while an easily solvable injustice is within arm's reach." He ran his other hand through his hair.
"I'm sure you guys know the definition of theft. After all, you're hanging out with another thief!" Iris pointed directly at Kylo. "He took what is without a doubt the most important thing to anyone. Life!"
"What are you... Talking about?" Xander raised an eyebrow and looked at Joules confused.
"Don't think I wouldn't remember the conversations I saw you having with our classmates!" She grinned. "You convinced them the alternative exam was a great choice. And then what happened? They died. Dead. Gone. All because of you."
Kylo looked down, gritting his teeth. "I get it, all right?"
Xander leaped forward and put his arm in front of Kylo. "How the hell was he supposed to know that would happen? Can you guys tell the future? He didn't know that would happen to those guys!"
She grinned. "Funny you say that we actually can! Shiro, I'm sure you could fill them in on that!"
Shiro stepped up with Ken. "Umm."
"Go on! Tell our friends here! About your power!"
"I possess a magic known as Foresight. It's honestly kind of weak in the grand scheme of things..."
"Well, tell them what you saw!" Iris pushed Shiro along, grinning.
"I... I looked at Kylo during one of our conversations and my mind gave me a 'printout' of the future. It was the same setting, but the kids weren't there anymore. I get a picture or short video of the future in my brain, with the time and date on it as well. I was sad when I realized what had happened. It sickened me."
"And you didn't do anything about it? Not even speaking up? You seem to be even more at fault than Kylo since you knew what was going to happen!" Xander snapped.
Shoving Shiro aside, Iris wryly responded. "Don't you think it's best for people to live with the results of their actions? Kylo actively defended that brat of a sister from me and didn't tell the kids trying to get out of the exam battles to suck it up and fight. Hell, he doesn't do anything for anyone and might as well not exist! I, on the other hand, am taking the right actions using Shiro's power. She's helping me! How else do your friends think I knew when and where they'd have their guard down? How do you think I got us out of the detention center and got us here before you did? I owe it all to my friends. They're great! So great! And now I'll have what I want!" She held her hands out and closed them as if she were grabbing Jinx from the distance between them.
Xander was pissed. "What the hell? What did you do? Why are you doing this? You are forcing Shiro to stand idly by as she knew her classmates were going to be slaughtered? You're just a manipulator, pulling the strings to get what you want. Selfish piece of shit." The wind picked up.
"It's funny how people don't get the big picture in their self-serving interests. I'm helping my friends see that they aren't weak, that they are loved! That they have a place in this shunning world! That place is helping others, namely me! I'm helping them." Iris smiled, her words completely distorting her would-be cute face. Shiro nodded at Iris' words.
Perses stepped forward, standing beside the other delinquents.
"She's right. Nobody has heard my story, and I don't care enough to tell you. But, Iris showed me a truth I cannot refute. Even after being cursed with strength at the cost of everything I loved, I can still be strong without loss!"
Confused by his words, Xander cocked his head. "What?"
"I said I wasn't getting into it. God, just looking at you makes me sick. Your kind destroys everything just to have your way!" Perses snapped.
"What does he mean 'your ki- Woah!"
Without warning, Xander was cast into the air and quickly slammed through a wall. Perses was charging in after him as the pair vanished through the breach in the wall.
"Xander!" Jinx cried out.
"Damn it!" Kylo and Apollo cursed simultaneously, surrounding Jinx to protect her.
"Give us the girl and we will let you be on your merry way." Iris wasn't joking.
Kylo shook his head. "No! You say I may have made a mistake. And I did. It was unknowing. Xander told me that. In my own words, every action is a gamble. We never know the true future. Now as I said before, back off. Get out of our way, we won't ask again." Pressing his feet into the ground, the bricks cracked as he readied himself.
Apollo's flames burned brighter. Frost appeared on Aspen's body as she readied herself as well.
"Leave our friend alone before I burn you to ashes," warned Apollo.
"Fine, have it your way. Shiro told me the way to beat you guys. Ken, Joules, have at 'em." Snapping her fingers, Iris commanded them.
Suddenly, the rubble from Perses' attack was levitating and being hurled at Kylo and Apollo with remarkable force. Apollo shot a wall of flames at the projectiles with such force that it acted as a shield, protecting them. "Where did Xander go?" He yelled.
"Aspen, take Jinx and hide. We got this!" Kylo grinned as he vanished into thin air, the bricks he was once standing on becoming unrecognizable pebbles. He body-slammed Ken.
"So fast, woah!" Joules admitted. "Well, he'll be fine. Let's dance, fire-boy."
"I don't dance, idiot." Enveloping himself in flame, the two clashed. "Have fun trying to paralyze me, just know, you'll burn yourself in the process," Apollo shrugged and threw a fiery punch at Joules.
"For being so dumb you sure are smart," Joules cockily remarked as he dodged the first blow.
Iris watched as Aspen took Jinx's hands and ran off. "Well, Shiro, that was much easier than I thought. Thanks to you, we can do the right thing!"
Shiro blushed. "Thank you…"
As they walked off towards the retreating targets, a brawl began. A brawl among students.
Chapter 9 END
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Join the Discord for news, updates, and more!
[https://discord.gg/2z66ZGEEj9]