High up in the blue sky, a little bird flies among the large clouds; completely white. The little bird starts to dive until it can fully see... the marvelous kingdom of Ystir, with its great walls and its advanced watchtowers, tracing a wide circle protecting its lands. In this kingdom there are three entrances; one to the east, another to the west, and another to the south. In the north there is no entrance, as here is located the palace, and also, beyond the harvest fields, there is a great canyon, a very dangerous place with natural traps. Ystir has four main commercial zones, but it also has areas such as the northwest and southeast. Here we can find different businesses, like bars, libraries, various types of shops and, of course, a large number of houses for the inhabitants, both in the main zones and elsewhere.
We follow our little bird, who now rests on a tree next to a new friend. While the new couple cuddles, we can see nearby Louis, with a blue trench coat. It had its characteristic lapels on the chest, without any pockets or buttons, except for the wrist adjustment straps and, of course... with his blue collar on his chest. On his back, he had a dark blue yoke that covered the upper part and reached his shoulders. In addition, he had a back waistband and a slit at the bottom of the trench coat. He wore a blue compression shirt, dark blue pants, dark blue gloves, and red leather boots, which rose just below the knees, with a simple and robust design. They had no decorations, except for a cuff at the top. Louis was running with a box in his arm while many cars passed to his right and the sun began to illuminate the streets with its marvelous splendor.
"It's this way!" he mentioned as he stopped and saw two paths to follow. While running, you could see how people worked on mechanical and magical items. "Goodbye, Louis!" shouted a man waving from afar. "Goodbye, Mr. Brin!" he replied, raising his hand with great happiness while continuing on his way.
"I’m here... Ugh..." he exclaimed with a bit of exhaustion in front of a house door. Louis knocked on the door and heard a lot of noise behind it.
"Finally! Thank you for bringing it!" expressed a rather disheveled woman. You could see the fatigue on her face and also the desperation she was going through. She instantly took the package Louis had and opened it as fast as she could, assembling the pieces quickly.
"Mom! Where are you!?" You could hear as if six children were shouting those words at once. The woman, desperate, smashed a potion into the pieces when she finished assembling them. The pieces, together with the potion, created an earth doll with a human form, much taller than Louis.
"Incredible!" hinted Louis as he watched the doll transform.
"Please! Take care of them while I rest, I can’t be like this any longer!" she expressed almost in tears, kneeling before the earth doll.
"Do not worry, I will take care of everything. You can rest," replied the doll, with respect and professionalism, going towards where the children were, who kept shouting.
"Thank you, I couldn’t take it anymore..." the woman got up and closed the door after thanking Louis.
"You're welcome!" Louis left and walked along the sidewalk while cars passed on his left. "Poor thing... Is that what having children is like? Though I heard more than one..." he thought while marking a check on a notebook.
"Make this place know suffering!" shouted Dark in Louis’ mind, showing him a destroyed scene.
"Not now!" shouted Louis, annoyed, while a man behind him got scared and fell to the ground.
"Human emotions will make you weak!" he replied while clenching his hands.
"Leave me alone..." he responded, lowering his voice while helping the man to stand up. "Sorry, sir."
‘Growl’ "I will not allow your humanity to harm what we really are!" he replied, approaching him inside his mind.
"I already got rid of you once, I’ll do it again, but alone, because that’s why I left Alahead... to learn to do things on my own," he expressed seriously, showing annoyance on his face. Dark simply faded from Louis’ mind, growling while his face glowed from the lava inside him.
"What a nuisance to live with these intrusive thoughts... But at least he stopped showing those images. Although in dreams he has more control... Drinking those anti-dream potions helped me. Thank you, Amelia! I’m glad she helped me when I delivered a package to her at her library... Even so, I must not let people see me talking like this; they’ll think I’m crazy and they’ll hate me! I don’t want to worry the Professor," he thought while continuing to walk, reflecting a bit of concern on his face. "I can do it! Just like Master Rei taught me," he expressed with determination after shaking his head several times.
After a long walk, Louis returned to Professor Maxwell’s new house, which was located a few streets away from the PT agency.
Louis opened the door with some keys and entered. "I’m back!" he shouted while closing the door.
Professor Maxwell’s house was two stories. The entrance, tunnel-shaped, had a large window to one side that faced his office. The walls had a red tapestry and a black carpet all over the floor. Upon entering, there were some stairs leading to a small landing. To the left of the entrance stairs was the kitchen; more to the right and in front, the living room; at the end of the hallway were the stairs leading to the second floor.
"Mr. Louis! You have gotten used to it very well; now you deliver the packages quite fast," said Hanks, pleased with Louis’ achievement while holding a tray with a teapot.
"Louis, Hanks, don’t call me sir," he expressed with a slight smile, approaching him.
"I like calling you that, sir," replied Hanks, heading to the kitchen.
"Yeah, but being called that makes me feel like I’m old or like I’m older than you," replied Louis, while going up the stairs to the landing.
"I see... Then I will try not to say it," he expressed, understanding his concern. "By the way! Professor Maxwell is waiting for you in the office."
"Okay, thanks." Louis headed to Professor Maxwell’s office. "Professor, do you need something?" he asked just as he entered.
"Louis! Ha, you’ve memorized the kingdom’s routes, haven’t you? You don’t take as long as before. Two weeks to not get lost, I still remember last week when you got lost in the southwest zone, hahaha," he joked cheerfully, recalling the event while sitting at his desk.
"Please don’t remind me... It was so embarrassing, and Ririam scolded me just for that..." he expressed, a bit embarrassed and uncomfortable.
"Ha, sorry. As you know, things have been a bit calm, but Mei, after a lot of work... or rather, torture..." he mentioned, recalling what Mei told him to get the information. "Mei got Zthur’s men, the ones who attacked my other house the day I met you, to reveal the location of Yeynos’ hideout... And she wants you to go to the agency so you can discuss that. But first... Do you really want to help this kingdom? You don’t have to if you don’t want to..." he expressed, shifting to a more serious and firm tone.
"Should I go? Yeynos... That guy wiped the floor with me... But... I must try to help and I won’t be someone who just passes through a kingdom, and Master Rei said to always do things that help the kingdom, and I like helping," he thought, remembering how Yeynos defeated him easily and recalling his master’s words. "I’ll go! I must try to help as much as I can, and also seeing the others in action is something that interests me," he replied with determination and a small smile on his lips.
"Good... then you may leave," he replied cheerfully with a smile on his lips.
"What? Now?" he asked in surprise.
"Yes, it’s better for you to go now, so as not to keep Mei waiting. This mission is very important," he replied conspiratorially.
"I’m leaving then! Thank you!" he expressed excitedly, leaving the office.
"You’re welcome..." he whispered with a smile as he watched him leave his office.
"PT agency... I would like to see the place; I couldn’t see it much when I entered two weeks ago..." he thought while grabbing his katana and a blue bag in his room. "These clothes are more comfortable than the ones I used to wear; in the end, it wasn’t so bad that they forced me to enter that shop. Mr. Lowin really did a good job... I wonder if the clothes are as resistant as he told me... Well, I’ll find out," he said after leaving his room.
Louis left Professor Maxwell’s house and ran to the PT agency. Many people passed near him and some recognized him and murmured.
"I should also give Mr. Lowin a gift for this bag, I really like it," he mentioned before arriving at the place, ignoring the murmurs of the people. "Here it is! I remember it perfectly; I don't usually come by here often..." he thought, looking through the window next to the door. "They sell jewelry?!" he said in surprise. "Right... I remember the professor said that to keep the king from finding out, they made a jewelry shop to disguise the fact that it’s an agency," he exclaimed, recalling what the professor had told him, hitting his right fist into his left palm and heading to the door.
"Well, here we go!" When he was in front of the door, about to stretch out his hand to grab the knob, the door opened and, taking a few small steps... there stood a dark-skinned woman in front of Louis. She had bright brown eyes, her hair was short to the neck and brown; she was 186 cm tall. She wore a tight black high-neck top that contrasted with a white cropped blouse, which fit snugly on the upper torso and left her well-defined abdomen exposed. She wore white pants and a loose brown jacket made of light fabric, with yellow details on the edges; the jacket reached down to her knees. In addition, she wore two golden bracelets on her hands and had two thin, curved earrings; she wore black martial arts shoes and seemed to be hiding something in her jacket.
A sound escaped from Louis' mouth, but he couldn’t say anything. "Eh?" he thought... His eyes fixed on her with amazement, feeling a warmth in his chest he couldn’t explain.
"A blue eye and a red one... Perfect! I found you. Hard not to with your peculiar eyes and hair," she said sarcastically, with a calm and deep voice, carrying a subtle strength, but with reserved emotion. "Nice to meet you! My name is Dahlia Xitlari, but just call me Xitlari, please..." she frowned. "Are you okay?" she asked, noticing the silence and that he was staring at her.
"Eh... yes... I'm fine" he replied with difficulty, lowering his face, which was blushing, and noticed that Xitlari was hiding something in her jacket.
"Good, let's go! Mei is waiting for us in her office" she turned around, heading to the door next to the counter.
"Sure," he mentioned, entering and closing the door, then following her while keeping his distance. "I've never felt something like this in my chest... not even with lava covering my whole body," he thought, trying to forget what happened as he looked at the agency.
Xitlari turned around, noticing his distance. "Why are you staying so far back?" she asked annoyed, raising an eyebrow.
"It's nothing! Well... I just wanted... to look around a bit first," he replied timidly, with a slight blush he tried to hide, averting his gaze.
"Huh! I see... I'll show you the place," she said, feeling a bit bad for judging him.
"Eh...? Are you sure? I don’t want... to delay Miss Mei’s mission."
"Yeah, no problem; I was going to your house to get you anyway. There's time," she replied with a bit of repressed kindness. "The PT agency looked small from the outside, but... it’s just a mask... This is the research area; it’s not super big, but it works. Here they prepare and create the equipment; they also research vital data we need to expose Count Jens’ fiasco," she commented while watching the others without entering the room.
"Whoa, that’s amazing!" he exclaimed, watching the researchers using holographic devices and controlling them with their hands. "Huh? It’s like that time in my room," he thought, noticing a white layer at the entrance, which had no door.
The room was 10x15, and they were creating an ice grenade, merging ice magic contained in a tiny sphere and embedding it into the grenade, which turned white; then, they threw it into a special container to test it, and the whole container froze.
"Incredible!..." he shouted in surprise, making people look at him. "Eh? I’m sorry! It’s just that I love your technology," with a slight smile, he put his right hand behind his head.
"Thank you very much, kid!" said one of the researchers. "Yes, we appreciate it," added a woman. "Thanks!" everyone in the room said at once.
"Hey! You're the paladin Louis; we really appreciate your help in our kingdom," said a woman with glasses and black hair tied in a bun; she wore protective gloves and a white suit, along with black heels.
"No problem, I like helping," Louis replied kindly, while Xitlari watched him.
"You’re good at talking to others..." Xitlari mentioned after Louis left the room.
"Eh? Ehm... Thank you," he replied shyly, looking away a bit.
"But with me... it seems you’re not..." she thought, growing suspicious of him after hearing his response. After that, they continued walking to the next room. "Here we keep all the materials and equipment we use, although Ririam uses this room the most." It was a small room full of artifacts, weapons, and communication devices.
"It’s packed," he mentioned, looking around the room.
"This one here is the room where we wait for missions or just hang out," she said, opening the door with a slight movement. Louis noticed a long golden bracelet with a large embedded gem, as well as a hand hidden in her jacket.
"Was that a hand?" he thought, but decided to say nothing and looked around the room. The room was 10x10; it had several sofas and bookshelves, as well as a round glass skylight in the ceiling.
"Well, that’s it... I doubt you’d want to see the cells and interrogation area," she mentioned, stopping at the last door in the hallway; in front of Louis, there were stairs going down.
"Sure... thanks for the tour," he commented with the same timidity. "Do I look like an idiot acting like this?" he thought as Xitlari walked through the door. Then he followed, and there was Canbel, sitting at his desk, typing on a keyboard with a hologram in front of him; to his left, he had a camera feed from the store's entrance, and to his right, the door to Mei’s office. The place was small, but it had a sofa with a table and a brown carpet with gray stripes.
"I remember this place..." Louis thought as he entered the room and noticed Canbel was very focused on typing.
Xitlari opened the door and entered with Louis behind her.
"Louis! I’m glad you came... We’ll need all the help we can get for this mission," said Mei, showing a bit of nervousness in her words, while the others averted their gazes.
"Hi everyone, I’m glad you invited me to this mission," Louis said sincerely with a slight smile on his face. Everyone remained silent, just looking away.
"What’s wrong with them?" Xitlari asked, looking at all of them, then approached Mei’s desk.
"Are you okay, Mei?" she said sarcastically and then pressed a key on the keyboard on the desk. A hologram appeared, showing the back of Louis, with the office and the others in the background.
She used the keyboard to move the camera, revealing a flying beetle-shaped camera. "I knew it! That’s why you sent me to get him!"
"Sorry, it’s just... I was curious how Louis would react when he saw you, but you went with your jacket on..." she said in her soft and sweet tone, standing up from the desk and trying to calm her, feeling disappointed at the end of her words.
"I wanted to see if they’d start a fight," said Ririam, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.
"What!? How was I supposed to fight him!?" asked Xitlari, surprised by Ririam’s words.
"I was hoping for that too... Sorry, Ririam's argument was convincing," added Kassie, averting her gaze in embarrassment.
"You too!? But you never listen to Ririam!" Xitlari expressed, disappointed and a little annoyed.
"Haha, I’m glad nothing happened, but now you have to show your secret," said Ann cheerfully, with a smile on her lips.
"It’s not a secret!" she shouted, slamming the table. "And anyway, I can’t walk the streets without my jacket... People discriminate a lot... even though they already know who I am..." She crossed her arms and lowered her voice at the end of her words.
"What’s going on here?" Louis thought as he witnessed the whole discussion.
"Well, whatever, here it is!" Xitlari raised two more arms from under her jacket. Both had long bracelets with a blue gem embedded. "If you don’t like it, you can just die," she said disdainfully, as if Louis’ opinion didn’t matter.
"Ah... that’s it? I had already noticed," he said warmly and a bit shyly. Everyone fell silent again. "Eh?"
"That’s why you were avoiding me! And here I thought you were nice," she replied, approaching Louis, pointing at him with her upper right hand.
"No, no, it wasn’t... because of that... In fact, I think your arms are amazing..." he said nervously, blushing as Xitlari got closer.
"Eh...? I see..." she said, surprised by Louis’ response, blushing slightly and looking away, then sitting next to Kassie and crossing her four arms.
"Hmm, I know that reaction..." thought Ann, placing a finger on her chin as she noticed Louis' reaction when Xitlari approached.
"Well, putting that topic aside... Let's get serious," said Mei, taking a serious and concise attitude as she used her keyboard to enlarge the hologram. "After a gentle but long interrogation..." she added, showing a short video of her torturing one of Zthur's men she had captured (Jori).
"Say it, damn you! Say it!" Mei shouted in the video as she choked Jori with her arm.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"I can't! Please... stop!" Jori shouted, struggling to speak.
"Well then!" Mei pulled out an electric rod. Upon seeing it, Jori started screaming "Aaaaahh" and the video stopped.
"What the hell?" thought Louis after the video ended.
"I finally got Yeynos' hideout location. We're all going, and we're dragging that bastard out of our kingdom," she said seriously while clasping her hands, resting her mouth on them. "Get your gear ready!" Immediately, everyone stood up and headed to the armory room.
Everyone left at once, except Ririam, who was carefully choosing. "Maybe I'll need one of these..." she said while examining the object and adjusting her glasses.
"Why are you the only one still here?" Mei hinted, annoyed.
After Ririam finished, everyone was waiting outside the agency.
"Why do I even make stuff for them if they don't use it?" Mei remarked as she exited the agency with Ririam behind her.
"We brought our communicator," Xitlari responded, and everyone showed theirs except Louis, who was still a bit out of place due to how the others behaved. "And we brought other things too, relax."
"Okay... The location is in the east zone, in an alley; I already sent you the location through the communicator," she said in her sweet and soft voice while us
ing her communicator as people walked by. "Four will come in my car and Ririam and Ann will go by air."
"I’d rather go with Ann; she knows how I like to travel," Kassie immediately exclaimed, raising her hand.
"Yeah, Kassie, let's go!" Ann said, giving her a hug.
"Fine, then I’ll stay with the ones who actually enjoy when I go full speed," she said excitedly as she started her car.
"Do you like how Mei drives?" Xitlari asked while watching the others leave.
"Yeah..." Louis replied shyly.
"Why is he acting like that?" thought Xitlari as she got into the car.
In the car, everything was calm. Xitlari stared out the left window and Louis... well, he was staring down, unsure of what to say.
"I don’t get this... Why can’t I say anything?!" thought Louis, shaking his head a little, then looked at Xitlari, who was illuminated by the sunlight coming through the window and whose hair was flowing in the wind. "Could what I’m feeling be... love?" he thought after glancing at her and then looking away. His body started to emit a heat aura.
"Hmm, doesn’t it feel like it’s getting hotter?" Mei asked as she noticed the temperature rising.
"Yeah, suddenly... it’s warmer, huh? Hey! You’re the one generating the heat!" Xitlari shouted, noticing Louis' skin.
"Huh? Is it me?!" he said, surprised, checking his hand and removing one of his gloves.
"Louis, calm down, what’s wrong? Lower it or you’ll burn my seat!" Mei said, concerned about her car—and also about Louis... but more about her car.
"Sorry..." Louis focused and managed to balance his temperature.
"Phew, what a scare, thanks, Louis!" she said, relieved. "By the way, Ririam told me you had earth magic too. Paladins with two types of magic are very promising; you could become one of the best."
"Actually, I just used magic potions, it’s not like I have another magic," he replied, a bit nervous.
"Oh, I see... well, even so, you’ll still be one of the best if you manage to evolve your magic to blue fire, but I’m sure you’ll make it," she assured, convinced of his potential, without taking her eyes off the road.
"I’ll do my best, Miss Mei!" he said, feeling a bit guilty. "Ugh... I don’t like lying, but the professor told me I had to do it as much as possible," he thought as he looked out the window to his right. "I wish I’d never gotten this magic... I wouldn’t have to lie and... my father... Calm down, Louis! You already left those thoughts behind," he thought, shaking his head slightly.
After a while, they finally arrived at the location in the east, in the same alley where Mei had captured Zthur's men.
"Why is it so quiet?" asked Louis as he didn’t hear much noise around when he got out of the car.
"Ririam handled it. If things go south, no one will get hurt," Mei replied with Clara on her shoulder after she unfused from the scimitar.
"Really? This is it? Is there a secret passage or something?" asked Ririam, looking at the dead-end alley.
"Indeed, but this kind of passage needs a password," Mei said as she walked to the end of the alley and played a recording from the communicator.
"Please...! The code is ‘shiroi... kiri’" said Jori through the communicator, sounding like he was crying.
"Is that normal?" Louis asked Kassie.
"Of course, you have to extract information," Kassie replied, whispering.
The alley wall opened, revealing stairs leading downward. Everyone went down and turned on a flashlight from their communicator, except for Ririam, who had two lights on the rings of her glasses.
"How do you turn this on?!" asked Louis, desperately searching for the button.
"Here!" said Kassie, pressing a touch button.
"Lower your voices!" Ririam intervened, and Kassie gave her a serious stare.
When they went down, the place was spacious but completely desolate.
"I think we’re late," Mei commented upon seeing the place.
"Maybe there’s another passage, he’s from Krisha village; they had many secrets," Ririam said, checking the walls.
"True... Search the whole place! But be careful, there might be traps here." As soon as Mei spoke, everyone started inspecting the place, which was a pale wooden room, totally empty.
"Hmm, I feel moisture in this part of the wall," Kassie mentioned, crouching and checking the wall near the stairs.
"How do you know?" Louis approached after hearing Kassie's comment while the others checked the back of the place.
"I control water magic too, I’m sure!" Kassie used her magic and broke a part of the wall, revealing a small tunnel.
"I found something!" Kassie shouted excitedly.
A wall rose from the floor, trapping the others. Then, the stairs lifted and sealed the exit.
Louis hit the wall with all his strength, but nothing happened. "How? Are you okay?!"
"Yes! Did you find something, Kassie?" Mei replied as she saw Xitlari unable to break through the wall.
"It won’t budge at all..." Xitlari said after hitting it several times.
"A tunnel! But it’s very dark... What do we do?" Kassie replied, worried, staring at the shadowy entrance.
"Ririam! Give me a hug, it might be our last..." Ann said, scared, hugging Ririam.
"Nothing will happen to us..." Ririam replied to the hug and tried to calm her, giving her a few gentle pats.
"Don’t worry! I figured it might be a trap... That’s why... I brought..." Mei said, searching her jacket. A white orb emerged from a wall. "What’s that?" The orb opened and illuminated the entire place. On the other side, the wall to Louis' right rotated, turning into a wall with spikes. "Did something happen...? Oh no..." Louis said upon seeing the spikes.
"Get in!" Kassie shouted, jumping into the tunnel, followed by Louis.
Kassie and Louis started falling through an endless tunnel until they passed through a white layer and arrived at a place surrounded by tall grass, lit by the sun under a sky with scattered clouds. At the top of the hill, a house with sloped roofs and white walls stood elegantly. Wooden columns supported wide eaves that cast a soft shadow around the structure. Kassie created an ice platform that allowed both of them to land safely.
"No wonder I felt moisture, it rained recently here," Kassie exclaimed, noticing the water droplets on the grass. "Wow... it’s a really nice place for a murderer..."
"Yeah... Can you call the others? I don’t know how to use this," Louis said as he got up from the ground and took out his communicator but immediately put it away.
Kassie tried to call everyone, but no one answered. "They’re not responding... We have to check the house, we don’t have much else to do."
Meanwhile, the others were in a completely silent place. There were stone structures of a refined style, with sloped roofs of red and orange tiles. They were on a long path that led them to the main building; a tall castle, surrounded by trees and thin, pointed towers, resembling a cathedral. Several small towers were distributed around the city, which had streets and paths connecting to each other. There were also stone arches and bridges crossing over small canals or rivers. There were other long structures with a giant clock and a pointed roof. Some houses also had trees nearby and a garden in front.
"What is this place?" Xitlari asked, staring at the great palace.
Mei sighed in awe as she saw the place, feeling melancholy, and it was evident in her eyes that she wanted to cry. "This place... is Trownlian... one of the kingdoms destroyed by Mayestad. How beautiful to see it again," she expressed with great feeling and sorrow as she remembered everything that had happened.
"How is this possible? It can't be... That sphere that exploded must have done something," said Ririam, confused and surprised by Mei's words.
"It could be confinement magic or illusion..." mentioned Mei.
"It must be confinement magic," replied Ririam.
"Creating all this with illusion magic could take years...", Mei reflected while walking back and forth. "Ann! Fly as far as you can from the kingdom."
"Understood!" Ann instantly flew off at great speed, kicking up dust and leaving yellow air in her wake.
Ririam noticed that Clara was not next to Mei. "Mei, Clara is not here" Mei looked at her shoulder with concern.
"I know... fairies cannot be confined or taken into an illusion."
"Kassie and... what’s his name?" said Xitlari, worried but forgetting Louis' name.
"Louis!... As punishment, you’ll ask his name when we return," expressed Mei with her sweet and soft voice, in a calmer tone.
"What?! Why?!" she asked, surprised.
"It's very rude to forget someone's name, and you also need to be more sociable," replied Mei, observing the place and recalling old times.
"After crossing!" she shouted from afar, moving at great speed. "The kingdom, there's a long blank space," she continued after reaching the ground with a smile on her face.
"Then it must be... I’ve never seen such a well-crafted illusion field..." she commented while walking and looking at the castle.
"Looks like they already figured it out... Although they took a while... Weren’t they high-ranking paladins? I wonder who gave them this location," said a conceited voice with a touch of pride and something playful, but grave.
Everyone took battle stances and gathered to look around them.
"Who are you?!" asked Mei while looking everywhere.
"My name is Tai, nice to meet you! Paladins..." As he spoke, the ground began to crack. "Let’s see how good you are" Many beings in silver armor emerged from the ground, beginning to surround them.
"If it’s illusion magic... With my magic, we can find a way out," thought Xitlari and began to make poses with her four hands, which turned a light blue color.
"Alright, cover Xitlari... And remember that magic here is consumed twice as fast and also... avoid getting hit... or your brains will be damaged," she mentioned, showing determination in her gaze.
Meanwhile, Kassie and Louis entered the house and began searching everywhere.
"Nothing?" asked Kassie, feeling bored, as she opened a drawer.
"Nothing...", replied Louis with disappointment. "I’m tired of searching... Do you think we should leave this place?".
"We can’t... We don’t know what this place is... I’ve had enough! Get out of the house!" Kassie created a sphere of water with her hands, preparing it for something.
"Okay, I’m leaving!" Louis left the house and stayed observing from afar.
A large amount of water came out through the windows and doors, but without damaging them. Louis was surprised and moved away from the large water currents, which stopped at a certain point.
"Huh!? What was that?" exclaimed Tai, confused, watching the others from atop a house while being invisible. Tai, suspicious, left the place.
"I’ve got it!" Xitlari finished her hand pose, closed her eyes to concentrate better. "Rhino! Can you hear me?".
"Yes, why are you speaking mentally? Where are we? And... why are you only moving your head? Well, not just you... also the others. Oh, I also see Mei’s fairy, she’s flying around her," asked a small blue rhinoceros spirit on Xitlari’s shoulder, very confused.
"We’re in a very elaborate illusion field, what can we do?" she replied, while Ann pushed the knights away with yellow wind magic, creating a large tornado that drove them back. Mei was fighting many at once, and with each strike of her scimitar, she split each one in half. Ririam shot with his sniper at those farther away.
"Hmmm... start gathering spiritual magic in your mind, not in your arms, and then I’ll take it to get them out of here by creating an impact in this room, and they’ll exit the illusion field," responded the spirit rhinoceros while trying to get on top of Xitlari’s head, pulling her hair.
"Got it... Are you pulling my hair?" she asked, feeling a slight pain that distracted her.
"Yes, almost... Done! You can start now." The rhinoceros managed to get on top of Xitlari’s head.
"Perfect" Xitlari sat on the ground and crossed her legs, beginning to gather blue energy in her head.
Suddenly, fire dragons began to appear, knocking down buildings and tearing up the ground. Ann lifted everyone with her magic and carried them flying at high speed, trying to dodge the fire attacks from the dragons while Ririam shot at them. She created a cloud to protect Xitlari.
"Come on, Xitlari, you can do it!" Mei said, standing in front of Xitlari’s cloud in case any dragon got close.
In front of them, a large black dragon appeared that disrupted Ann’s flight, and they all began to fall.
"Damn it!" shouted Xitlari, opening her eyes.
Ann managed to stop the fall, and Xitlari returned to gathering energy, seated on the ground. The black dragon destroyed one of the buildings, and Mei, with great speed, destroyed all the debris heading towards them. With a great leap, she reached the dragon’s head and split it. Upon landing, Mei saw the large number of dragons approaching.
"Xitlari! Hurry!" she shouted while falling.
"Almost...!" mentioned Xitlari.
Ririam pulled out a device and threw it to the ground, creating a large transparent green shield. All the dragons began to shoot fire, and the shield started to give way. Ann began charging a large burst of yellow wind in her hands, ready for when the shield broke. The large shield vanished, and the flames were approaching them. Ann launched her burst, creating a yellow wind shield over them that moved at high speed.
"I... can’t... hold on much longer!" shouted Ann, struggling to keep the shield from collapsing.
"Almost... ready!".
In the alley, the spirit rhinoceros emerged from the ground, destroying much of it. The rhinoceros came out of the hole and waited outside.
"What an entrance!" exclaimed Mei, coming out of the ground and standing proudly next to Clara, who was gently rubbing against her neck. "Are you okay, Clara?" Clara nodded while Xitlari checked for nearby people. Then, she came out and shrunk the rhinoceros, who perched on her shoulder.
"Hey, when are you coming out? We need to find Kassie and Louis" Mei jumped over the hole after seeing Ann and Ririam.
"I thought we were going to die..." said Ann, hugging Ririam, who was on the ground.
"Everything’s fine, you did amazing," Ririam patted her head, one of his arms around Ann.
"Come out already, lovebirds," mentioned Xitlari, also jumping over the hole.
Meanwhile, Kassie and Louis remained in the other place. Kassie made the water return inside the house, being absorbed by it, leaving the place dry.
"Whoa, this is amazing! Did you find anything?" expressed Louis, surprised that the house remained intact, with all the furniture in place, as if no one had been there.
"I found this... It’s a scroll, but it’s sealed. It was in a wall, quite convincing," replied Kassie, turning around as she tried to open the scroll.
"It’ll be useful. And... now what?" mentioned Louis, not knowing what else to do.
"Hmm... Ah! I know, let’s go through the tunnel again," she suggested after thinking for a moment.
"Yeah!, with your water magic," added Louis.
"No, no, ehm, better with ice, hehe..." she replied nervously, as if hiding something.
"Why not?".
"Because... it’s better, let’s go!" she answered, taking Louis' hand to leave the house.
"Who are you? Don’t tell me you’re with the others?" expressed Tai with annoyance in his words, alerting Louis and Kassie.
"Are you Yeynos?" asked Kassie, peeking through the exit, but no one was there. "Come on, put it in your bag," she whispered to Louis, handing him the scroll.
"What? Not at all... My name is Tai, and I believe... none of you will escape this place," he mentioned, adopting a serious tone. Louis and Kassie were pushed by a large blast of white air; the attack was so strong that the entrance of the house was destroyed.
"Paladins! I'm afraid your defeat is inevitable!" he implied, emerging through the entrance and leaving white mist behind him. His hair was short and white, with eyes of the same color, as if they had mist inside. He stood 180 cm tall and wore a black mask that covered his mouth and nose. He wore a sleeveless white hooded cloak that reached his pelvis, with a white cape that extended just above his knees and emerged from between his shoulders. Underneath, he wore a black shirt, visible only at the sleeves, black wristbands with white dots, and black gloves. His pants were black, loose at the top and tight at the ankles, with a black belt tightening the cloak at the waist, and he wore white jika-tabi (a Japanese shoe used by ninjas).
Louis helped Kassie up. "Are you okay?"
"Yes... I'll be right behind you," said Kassie, covering her arms with ice.
Louis unsheathed his katana and headed toward Tai... He lunged and clashed his katana with Louis'.
"Magnificent sound, don't you think? Hahaha," he mentioned with great excitement, clashing their katanas as Kassie prepared to attack.
"Oof... Haha, you're good with the katana. It's been a while since I fought someone with strength equal to mine," he commented, noticing Kassie launched several ice spikes at him. Tai created a katana from his hand and began flying on top of it, dodging all of Kassie's attacks. "Whew! That was close, girl! Hahaha."
"There's not much time... I have to deal with the others too," Tai thought as he continued dodging Kassie's attacks. Tai got off his katana and placed his palm on the ground. "Dark mist!" causing much of the area to be covered in fog.
Louis heated his katana, illuminating the area a bit. Kassie used the crystal on her to light up the place. Then, she placed both hands on the ground and began creating a lot of water, which spread out and trapped Tai with a water arm. "Got you!"
"Wow..." Tai cut the arm using the katana he left floating in the air and began flying again, standing on it. "Nice trick, you'll like this one!" Tai created a large number of katanas and sent them toward them.
Kassie created an ice wall with the water she generated, stopping all the katanas in the ice.
"Two types of magic... I didn't expect that, but who cares!" With great speed, Tai headed toward the wall and, with a single strike, destroyed it.
"Back!" said Louis, preparing himself as Kassie stood behind him.
Tai clashed his katana with Louis' again, but this time Louis' katana split Tai's in two, surprising him as he jumped back.
"He's very fast, but... we have the advantage," Louis thought, showing seriousness on his face. "Kassie, stay behind me, I'll cover you."
"Okay!" replied Kassie, noticing the seriousness in his words.
"His katana is red-hot... that's incredible!" Tai thought, then created many swords that began to surround him and sent them all toward Kassie and Louis.
Kassie created another ice shield around them that began to spin at high speed, stopping the katanas and shooting many ice spikes toward Tai.
"They're full of tricks," mentioned Tai, dodging the spikes and destroying others with another katana that came out of his hand.
Tai pressed his katana harder, covering it in dark mist, then threw it with all his strength, piercing through the entire ice shield and heading towards Kassie. However, Louis stepped in, trying to stop it. Although the katana was deflected, Louis managed to stop it but was pierced in the stomach.
"Louis! Are you okay?" asked Kassie, approaching him.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Louis pulled the sword from his stomach and incinerated it with his hand. Kassie was surprised by how easily he destroyed the katana and how he didn't flinch at the pain.
"Wow! Your fire is very hot, I'm also surprised you're still standing after a wound like that, my respects," implied Tai, flying above the shield. "But... don't you think you two don't match well? Fire and water, get it? Heh, heh."
Kassie shot more needles from the shield, and once again Tai began to dodge them, flying calmly and swiftly on his sword.
A beeping sound was heard, and Tai took a round communicator from his pocket. "Wow... Bad timing, father..." he mentioned, moving his head to avoid a spike. "I'll have to finish them now... Besides, it looks like the others managed to escape... Too bad!" Tai thought, slowly fading away and disappearing from both of their sights.
"Where did he go?" asked Kassie, trying to find him.
"I don't know... But be ready, he could show up at any moment," mentioned Louis, looking around everywhere.
Suddenly, a small white sphere began to light up the area. "It's over, friends." Tai removed his mask and smiled as marks like cracks spread from his eyes to his cheeks, they were white and glowing.
"White magic? It can't be!" exclaimed Kassie, scared, as she removed the ice shield.
"Run!" Louis grabbed Kassie's arm and began running toward the tunnel.
Suddenly, a great amount of yellow wind came out of the tunnel, dispersing the mist.
"Guys, where are you?! Ah, there you are! Huh?!" shouted Ann, searching for them, and saw Tai with the white magic sphere. She quickly grabbed Louis and Kassie and headed into the tunnel.
"Not a chance!" Tai threw the white sphere, which sped toward them.
Ann picked up more speed, making the yellow wind thinner, and they managed to get through the tunnel. Then they passed through the entire tunnel, enlarging the hole and soaring rapidly into the sky until Ann managed to stop.
"Are you... okay?" asked Ann, struggling to breathe, with yellow cracks moving like wind across her face.
"Yes," both replied, also exhausted, but Kassie was trembling.
"Good... because I'm... not." Ann fainted and began to fall with them. Kassie began to scream desperately. Louis sheathed his katana, grabbed Kassie and Ann, and placed them in front of him as he fell on his back.
"What are you doing?" asked Kassie, confused.
"I can take the impact, you can't!" Kassie closed her eyes. They were falling at high speed... But suddenly, they went through a large amount of green slime that broke their fall, leaving them in the middle of the large slime sphere. Ririam absorbed the slime again, allowing the three to safely touch the ground.
"Are you okay?!" shouted Mei as she ran toward them with Ririam and Xitlari at her side. "Why did you come out of the hole like that?" she asked, worried, kneeling when she arrived.
"Ann! Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay!" exclaimed Ririam, falling to his knees, nearly in tears, as he held Ann in his arms and touched her face.
"I'm fine..." replied Ann, a bit dizzy, and then Ririam hugged her tighter.
"We don't know who it was, but he had white magic," Louis replied when Kassie didn't answer and kept staring at Ann and Ririam.
"White magic? No way... Only the priest has that magic..." Mei opened her eyes, surprised by the response.
"Louis! Your stomach!" said Kassie, snapping out of it.
"What? Are you hurt?" expressed Mei, worried, standing up.
"No, I'm fine," replied Louis, standing and covering his stomach.
"Of course not!" Kassie replied, thinking Louis was pretending to be strong. She stood up and moved Louis' hand, showing he wasn't hurt, though his shirt had a hole. "How...?"
"That doesn't matter now, we have to go! Get in the car!" Mei noticed the hole in Louis' shirt and the bloodstain but quickly headed to her car, and everyone got in: Xitlari in the front, Kassie and Louis in the back, and Ririam with Ann on top. "Canbel! Did you call the architects? I don't want complaints from that animal," Mei asked through her communicator while driving at a moderate speed.
"They're on their way! They'll fix the damage and seal the tunnel for the usual price," replied Canbel through the communicator.
"Perfect, thanks," Mei turned off the communicator and glanced at the others through the rearview mirror.
"The mission was a failure..." mentioned Ririam while Ann remained unconscious on top of him.
"Of course not... We got overconfident because we were many, but now we know what we're up against. This is no joke; illusion magic at that level is very dangerous, and white magic is definitely the worst... I have to arrange a meeting with someone from the church, and soon... The kingdom is in complete danger," Mei was serious and had a determined look while driving.
"Kassie found this, it's some kind of scroll or something," mentioned Louis, pulling the scroll from his bag.
"Let me see it." Xitlari took the scroll and began analyzing it.
"There are many beings inside, Xitlari," said the spirit rhinoceros. "I can feel it, it's a large number."
Upon hearing the rhinoceros' words, Xitlari figured out what it was. "It seems to be a containment space; it holds a large number of creatures inside."
"Put it in here." Ririam gave Xitlari a security capsule, and she stored the scroll inside.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the portal...
“They escaped, too bad... I better change the portal’s direction. Huh?” he commented with slight frustration as he put on the mask, the place seemed completely fine without any damage, there were many swords around Tai and the sun illuminated his face. Suddenly, a beep sounded again and Tai pulled out a round device.
“Is something wrong?” Tai asked, answering the call.
“Of course something’s wrong, you’re supposed to be at the meeting. Where are you?” Yeynos replied, annoyed, through the communicator.
“Meeting? What meeting?” Tai asked, puzzled for not remembering the meeting.
“At the ashes of Trownlian, Zthur will make a very important announcement. You better come as fast as possible,” Yeynos replied.
“I don’t remember being told about a meeting, but I’ll do what I can to arrive on time,” Tai mentioned, as he lay on top of the katana, which floated carrying him towards the tunnel.
“Fine, hurry...” Yeynos ended the communication and Tai put the device away in his clothes.
‘Sigh’ what a bother... BUT! I have to obey my father,” he commented, looking at the sky, as all the swords combined into one.
Back in the kingdom of Ystir, and after a peaceful trip, everyone returned to the agency. Ann was feeling better, and it was getting dark; some people were walking along the sidewalks and there were also some cars in their respective lanes.
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Ann said as Ririam helped her walk towards the agency. Kassie also approached to help her.
“You two go and take that to the research room,” Mei said firmly, leaving in her car.
Xitlari and Louis entered the agency in silence and headed to deliver the capsule. Neither said anything, they just walked until they reached the research room.
“Gentlemen! Be very careful analyzing what’s inside. I’ll check it tomorrow,” Xitlari exclaimed, placing the capsule in a glass container that made the capsule float. Then, Xitlari left the room, followed by Louis.
“Always the same with that lady...,” commented one of the researchers. Louis managed to hear the comment before leaving and then followed Xitlari, who stopped.
“What are you?” Xitlari asked bluntly, about to go out the door.
Louis was surprised by the question... But he knew he could no longer hide his secret. “I’m a human... half demon,” he replied with relief and resignation.
Xitlari made a surprised gesture but didn’t turn around. “I see. By the way... You didn’t tell me your name when we met,” she mentioned, not remembering it, while still facing away.
“I’m sorry, my name is Louis A. Keeper, nice to meet you,” he said warmly and with a slight blush.
“Heh... Nice to meet you, Louis,” she said, slightly turning and leaving through the door, heading out of the agency.
Meanwhile, Mei was still driving her car. “Voice function.”
[Voice function activated], the car’s dashboard responded.
“Search information on Louis Keeper.”
[Understood], the dashboard replied.
[Louis A. Keeper, 18 years old, son of the paladin Lin Keeper... He is a paladin of the kingdom of Alahead, appointed on October sixth of the year 3682, height 170 cm, possesses fire magic and is a human half demon.] A thunder rumbled at the dashboard’s last word.
At Professor Maxwell’s house, he was standing, watching the rain fall through his window.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Mei asked upon arriving, resting her hands on the desk.
“You found out... Sorry, I wanted to gather enough information to tell you without you doing something rash,” the professor replied, turning around.
“Why would you do that?” Mei removed her hands from the desk and stood firmly, while Clara remained still, almost imitating Mei.
“Because to you... the kingdom is more important. Louis is a boy who has suffered much disdain, and I want to prevent him from suffering more,” he replied, sitting in his chair and pulling out a holographic device.
“You know they’re dangerous, Jonathan. That he has suffered so much could make him want revenge,” she said in a serious tone, and another thunder sounded at the end of her words.
“Do you really think that? What would Xitlari say about that comment?” he expressed with disappointment.
Mei thought about it for a moment and felt a bit guilty for her words and harshness. “You’re right... I’m sorry.”
“Before you leave... I won’t make Louis keep lying... I’ll tell you now, and I hope you let me finish before you put your scimitar to my throat,” he expressed seriously, pressing the holographic device. The device displayed information and a photo of Rei. “Rei Fordesthmans is Louis’s master and... Louis possesses lava magic.” Another thunder rumbled in the distance at the last words.
“What? You want that to happen here too?!” she shouted, surprised, hitting the table and leaving the mark of her fist.
“Calm down... To ease your worry, I’m showing you this... You know that Rei Fordesthmans is the son of Lión Fordesthmans; don’t think Louis was trained by just anyone,” he mentioned, showing her images of green and light blue magic.
“He’s still dangerous...” she replied, lowering her tone a bit after seeing the images and hearing the Professor.
“Have you seen the blue necklace he wears on his chest? That necklace prevents him from using the full potential of his magic. Besides, it was created with the magic of Lión’s sky blue sword, that’s no small thing,” the professor continued showing her images of the necklace and the sword.
“And if it stops working? What will you do?” Mei expressed, more calmed but with a lingering concern.
“Suppressed magic is very weak magic; it will deplete instantly. Louis mentioned that creating lava consumes a lot of magic and, because of that, he spent several years training with Rei to compress the part he can use. If the necklace stops working, though I doubt it... he won’t be able to use much magic because it will mix with the suppressed magic. Louis is a well-trained boy, he... won’t let anything bad happen!” he expressed with great certainty and confidence, standing up and hitting the desk hard.
Mei was surprised by the explanation and how he ended it. “Heh... You protect him because he reminds you of Alex, right?”
The professor sat back in his chair. “The difference... is that Louis is trained, he’s capable, and he knows the consequences of misusing his magic... Do you want me to tell you a bit... about what he has been through?”
“Go ahead...” Mei replied.
“Heh... He’ll remind you of someone".
After a while, the rain stopped and Louis arrived at the house. Before entering, he focused his body and dried all his clothes.
“I’m back! Hanks?!” he shouted, entering the house and closing the door. Louis headed towards the professor’s office but ran into Mei, who had just come out.
“Miss Mei... What are you doing here? Ah! And also about the case of my wound... I...” Louis was interrupted by a sudden hug from Mei; she hugged him tightly, letting a few tears escape.
“Don’t worry, Louis... I will support you too,” she said with her sweet and soft voice, stopping the hug and wiping her tears. “I want to see you tomorrow at the agency... alright?” she said with a slight movement of her face while smiling softly.
“Of course, I’ll be there!” Louis replied with excitement, and after hearing that, Mei hugged him again, soft...ly.
End of the chapter
