Chapter 9: The Final Awakening Spell. To the Next Level.

  The sound of the crackling of the fire and crashing waves rang throughout the air as bright orange and blue light sparked and clashed. Lunch had ended a while ago and the group was now officially skipping their classes as the battle persisted without an end in sight. Many students and teachers had heard all of the commotion above them and had tried to see everything that had been happening. The halls were flooding as everyone hurried out of the furiously shaking building. The building had been completely evacuated by all students and staff in minutes. They all stared at the shaking roof and strange darkened sky in fear as they wondered what was happening.

  “You’re getting slower Taiyo. That’s disappointing,” the boy frowned as he slashed his blades at Tai’s throat, just barely missing.

  “You’re just a monster. No one can wield those giant katanas and move at top speed without getting tired,” Taiyo gasped for air. He clutched at his chest while he struggled to keep his eyes open.

  Tai lifted up his hand and aimed it at the boy. He slowly exhaled steam that then danced and twirled around him like an elegant dancer.

  “Before I burn you, I just want to say thanks. Thanks for letting me figure out this world just a tiny bit more,” Tai said as his hand started to heat up and turn red.

  “Woooaaahhh. That’s not like our school quiet kid at all! I appreciate it but I feel drowning you would be more appropriate!” He smiled widely. “ Jeison Beelzer, senior at Holy Valley High and master of the two sword dual wielding style.”

  “Why are you giving me your resume? I don’t need it,” Tai frowned.

  “The way my grandfather raised me was to always show respect-”

  “That’s sure working out well for you huh?” Taiyo interjected with an eye roll.

  “It’s deemed necessary to give your name to the person you’re going to kill. If you die, you would want to know the name of the person who ended your life,” Jeison smiled. “I'm surprised you lasted this long without using the high chikarai spell to awaken your powers. You certainly have the magic for it… Ah! Maybe you just don’t have any skills! That must be it.”

  “I don't know anything about this awakening crap but I don’t need it to beat you. So don’t be annoying and burn.”

  “Woah Woah Woah buddy. Calm down! If you don’t figure the spell out soon, I’ll completely overwhelm you,” Jeison extended his arms and held his blades downwards. He started to slowly breathe as blue energy rushed upwards into the air surrounding him. He glowed a silver hue as the rushing light condensed around him and rapidly flew up. His swords glowed as he gripped their hilts as hard as he could, his knuckles turning white from the strain.

  “Well, well, well. It was fun Taiyo-boy. I personally enjoy hurting people very much so tell your magic, Fiamma, thank you. She seems tough to break and has a very strong spirit. It was fun to watch her in pain. Hopefully, we can do this again! And next time, I would just love to hear her scream and cry.”

  “God, you’re annoying you sadistic freak. Stop talking and get on with the fight,” Taiyo gritted his teeth. He couldn’t stand the way Jeison was talking about Fiamma but he knew he didn’t have the luxury to talk all day. He had to finish this. And fast.

  “The Final Awakening or Resurrection. This full release spell will be the last thing you hear before you die,” The energy around Jeison erupted to an even higher amount than it was before, its nature wild and unpredictable just like its source.

  “Resurrection.”

  Jeison’s Nodachis became luminous as their blades extended even farther than they were before. The spines became jagged and rough like shark’s teeth while their color changed to a bone-chilling white. The hilts had completely disappeared, leaving nothing but the blades and their tangs. Two gold yet rusty chains connected the two blades together at the bottom. Water flowed around Jeison in the loose form of a dolphin or shark-like monster. The garments that were previously invisible and only showed in the lightning were now completely visible, taking form over his clothes. He stood tall and posed like some kind of God of the sea in his greek attire.

  “Now that I’m like this, all you can do now is role over and die.”

  Taiyo set his fire ablaze as his hands combust. He covered his left leg in the fire as he did the same for his right arm. Taiyo sprinted towards Jeison, his movements swift and steady. He sent his flame-enwrapped fist towards his opponent, yet right before his attack was about to seemingly connect, Jeison vanished into nothingness.

  “Resurrection is the true rebirth of the soul,” Jeison called out, his voice coming from every direction.

  Taiyo, disoriented, looked around frantically but before he could even blink, a foot had delivered a devastating blow to the chest, sending him spiraling through the air before crashing into the railing. Taiyo’s vision blurred and he threw up blood, heavily wheezing.

  Was this what death felt like? Not over an instant but long and drawn out? Was the death the sweat flooding down his face? Was it the surely fractured bones in his body? Was death perhaps the rain that clung to his clothes and weighed him down like anchors? Was death his failing vision or perhaps the ringing in his ears. Was it the hair in his face obstructing his already scattered vision? At this point, he just couldn’t be sure anymore.

  Jeison appeared in front of him and grabbed his shirt, bringing Taiyo his feet before taking a step back, dodging his sluggish blow.

  “The Final Awakening is the pinnacle of strength, multiplying our power nearly 10 fold in the lower ball park.”

  Taiyo let out a ragged scream and started to release a flurry of fists haphazardly in the direction of his opponent just hoping one - just one - would land. Jeison sidestepped, swayed, pivoted, blocked, deflected and even redirected every blow.

  “Our senses are heightened.” Jeison grabbed one of his swords and plunged it into his opponent's foot. Taiyo was about to yell out in pain but Jeison covered his mouth and leaned in close. His smile was twisted, horrifying Taiyo as his body shook in fear staring into his opponents glowing yellow irises.

  The sea creature made of water had been circling overhead. Jeison let out a short whistle and like a missile, it swam through the air and bit down hard on Taiyo’s leg, immediately taking him to the ground.

  “We gain new abilities.”

  Taiyo let out a blood curdling yell. The pain was searing; he could feel the somehow sharp fangs of the water piercing his flesh. He gritted his teeth and let fire erupt from his body all over.

  He threw out another flaming punch towards his enemy, a newfound rage in his eyes and landed a clean blow to his jaw. “Erupt!” he shouted. His fist began to spark wildy like a failing lighter and exploded into a ball of fire, engulfing the both of them in flames.

  The rain seared, instantly turning to steam and evaporating the puddles and droplets already on the ground. As the wisps of fire cleared and the smoke and steam settled, Taiyo could only stand in horror as Jeison stood with that same manic look on his face, completely unfazed and undamaged by the now trembling fist pressed against his face.

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  “And our durability is increased.”

  Jeison swung his swords towards Taiyo at an incredibly fast speed, surpassing his previous limits once more, faster than anything he had done previously. Taiyo could just barely comprehend as the two sharp blades headed straight towards his neck, yet at the last moment they flipped around to their dull sides and were quickly redirected towards his chest. Not being able to see the movements of his opponent, he was struck by the two heavy metallic spines of the swords in his side, feeling even more things crack and break. He was sent spiraling to the side as he collided with the metal railings of the roof once again before this time being sent straight through them, the rods piercing and bending against his back.

  Now dangling freely off the side of the roof, he would have surely plunged to his death if he hadn’t just barely sustained himself up against the edge of the building.

  Jeison now stood over him as he hung over the edge of the building, just barely grasping on with his one good arm.

  “You were curious about how this world worked, correct?” Jeison laughed coldly. He stuck one blade into the roof’s ground on either side of his hand, mocking him as the chain of the two swords swayed over his whitened knuckles. “Chikarai that have gained the ability to use their Resurrection are put under a label known as The Awakened - an enhanced group of individuals that have evolved their power to the next level.”

  Jeison stomped on Tai’s hand, cracking a finger. Taiyo let out a scream and let go of the building, about to fall to his death, Jeison reached down and grabbed him by the arm before throwing him with no effort back onto solid ground.

  “Not many people who have gained access to The Final Awakening call themselves this but if I didn’t have my current title, the appropriate thing to call me would be Awakened Jeison. Nice to finally meet you, Sun of Vitale.”

  “Tai!” Lyra yelled as she ran over to him. Kendall’s eyes widened in disbelief as he followed closely behind.

  “Stay back!” Taiyo screamed, coughing up blood. “You guys can’t help me! You’ll just get in the way!”

  Lyra ignored him and kept running forwards. Jeison had taken notice and prepared his blades as he stood over Tai. Without looking over at them he squatted down close, a twisted smile on his face, and whispered in Tai’s ear, “If they get any closer, I’ll decapitate them.”

  Taiyo’s eyes widened as he opened his mouth to yell. Jeison put his hand over Tai’s mouth, covering and muffling him, and put a finger over his

  “Shhh. Calm down Taiyo-boy. It takes away the fun if they know what’s coming.”

  Lyra got closer and closer as time seemed to be moving in slow motion in Taiyo’s eyes. So many thoughts went through his head. He couldn’t help it. Lyra. That was the first name that came to his head. He had so many emotions, ones that he had never felt before. He remembered. He remembered the moment he met her, the time they spent together, the moment they fought, the moment they made up, and now he would have to see the moment she left him. He looked back and saw Kendall. He would never admit it but he really grew on Tai. Kendall had always been there for him, even in the short amount of time they had known each other. Kendall was like the annoying brother he wished he had. And Tai would have to sit there and watch him die. He would sit there, powerless, and watch his loved ones die.

  “Well, I guess I should get to it,” Jeison laughed. He tightened his grip on his dual-wield swords and ripped them out of the grind . He looked over at them, still smiling. The area around them turned gray, the only color remaining was Jeison’s yellow eyes.

  “What’s going on now…” Taiyo broke out into a cold sweat.

  The air around turned heavy as it felt physically hard to breathe. It was as if gravity had gotten twice as heavy and effective. Lyra kept running and struggling against the weird atmosphere. Everyone looked over at Jeison and while his form stayed the same and while they weren’t too close to him, it felt like a wild beast had them cornered against a wall with no escape or death itself was constantly pressing its scythe against their throats. No matter how much distance was between them, they had nowhere to run.

  “Oops, I got a bit too excited there. Let some of my bloodlust seep out,” he giggled.

  It didn’t take much, but even with just that tiny amount, Kendall took the hint and grabbed Lyra. He held her back and pulled her arms back, pretty much dragging her away as far as possible.

  “What are you doing you idiot! Let go of me!” she yelled.

  Kendall ignored her and pushed her to the ground. “Sorry for being so rough, princess... But, we don’t stand a chance so just calm down okay?”

  “So you just want to leave Tai there? He’s hurt!” she cried out, tears filling her eyes. “This is the worst condition he’s ever been in look at him!”

  “Look, I don’t want to do this! I hate being weak! I want to help… I really really want to help them out... But as we are now… We’ll just get in Tai and Fiamma’s way! So stop being so spoiled and stay put!” Kendall shouted.

  Tai grinned and sighed in relief. He relaxed all of the tension in his body as he closed his eyes. “If you were going to stop you didn’t have to get me all worked up you nuisances.”

  Jeison looked down at Tai and then back up at Lyra and Kendall. He stopped smiling and frowned slightly.

  “Aww...that takes all of the fun out of it… Now I’ll feel like the bad guy if I kill them,” Jeison said. He looked down at the bloody mess Taiyo was in and all of the color returned to the world. “Oh. Shit.”

  Jeison took a step back and rustled his hair worriedly. “Oh shit shit shit I totally went overboard… Oh my god Mash is gonna kill me. I can just say it was an accident or make up something she always forgives me anyway.”

  “Sorry to interrupt your inner monologue but you sound like a jerk the way you’re talking about this Mash chick,” Taiyo said. He coughed and then spit blood at Jeison’s feet.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid my monologue doesn't concern you,” he smiled passive-aggressively.

  “Sounds like it does, freak. But, whatever. It’s her fault for teaming up with a lunatic.”

  “Yup. Anyway I’m afraid I went a bit overboard. Some of my humanity or maybe my morality brought me back I guess. I wish it would just disappear most of the time but today it was pretty useful I suppose!” Jeison laughed, deactivating his Resurrection as his clothes turned back to normal. “Oh well! Maybe next time! Let’s fight again sometime, Sun.”

  Jeison stood up and grabbed Taiyo by his collar and pulled him face to face.

  “Hey, Sun. It’s about time we initiated the real reason I’m here,” Jeison said. “I was supposed to be just monitoring you but things got just a bit too hands on.” He chuckled at his own joke. Taiyo couldn’t help but be a little ticked that somehow he always found something about the situation. “Anyway, I guess this means we’re ahead of schedule now! Nice to work with you and finally become a child of the Vitale mafia again!”

  Tai had gotten some of his memory back earlier and had heard and seen some things about him being an heir but he still had no clue what any of it meant.

  “What do you mean mafia heir? That doesn't make any sense,” Taiyo said. He tried to stand up but his legs gave out. “And why would I let you join me after you just tried to murder me and my allies? You even hurt Fiamma.”

  “Oh yeah… Edward said the Vitale heir had amnesia… That’s a problem… Oh well. Mash will deal with it. You guys are still alive in the end so all’s well that ends well!”

  “Edward? What kind of name is that?”

  “Apparently he’s a European foreigner who moved here with his dad to live with his mother a long time ago. I don’t really care about his life story or the details but all I know is that he is one of the strongest humans in the underground world not counting the titans in the silver age. I’d love to kill him.”

  “You’re one creepy guy. Trying to go after your own teammates.”

  “Really? Wanting to murder someone on your side should be a good thing. It means they’re strong enough to intrigue you. I don’t have time for this. I’m gonna take you to our base of operations.”

  “Hey pal, I think you’re forgetting something important.”

  “Oh? What do you mean?”

  Taiyo nodded down. His leg had holes in it like that of a shark bite, his severely bloodied and torn uniform, and the many purple bruises spotted around his body. His breathing was labored and he had a constant slight tremble.

  “Oh yeah. Here, drink this.” Jeison took out a small glass bottle filled with red liquid and tossed it to Taiyo. “Specialty made by our resident doctor. They’re rare and are the equivalent of dropping a solid 10 bands every time they’re made.”

  “10k for a little red juice?!”

  “Yeah. It’ll get you on your feet but only temporarily. We call them Adrenal Potions. They take the pain away and accelerate the healing process but trust me you are still very broken.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. On your feet! We have a lot of fun networking to do!”

  “Ugh, you’re so annoying.”