• The Eve of Eternity: Chapter 8 - King of Flash, Kaneas?


    Firomis' eyes opened widely, and for once the man who had always shown such calmness and etiquette was unable to find the words to say. Firomis stood there for a short moment, before finally gathering the words to talk. "Good morning, Kaneas." Kristin, the girl next to Firomis, couldn’t take her eyes off of the man who looked like a bandit. ‘Kaneas? Kaneas?’ She thought for a moment she was going crazy, but then, Firomis had called him that, so her mind wasn’t making up things. She looked at Rydia. She wanted to ask her what Kaneas was doing here, but she had to wait until they were alone. She turned at Firomis. He seemed surprised too; in fact Firomis was showing a side that no one would have ever thought possible.

    "Someone like me shows up and you lose your composure huh Firomis? I'm flattered. It seems like the only people who can talk to me calmly are Davius and Rydia, and even Davius has troubles at times. Maybe you should give lessons out to them, Rydia." Kaneas looked down at Rydia. She grinned widely and looked back at him. "Maybe~~~. Oh~~ I forgot. Kristin, this is Kaneas, Kaneas this is Kristin. She's a new member of Silver. Her family was also killed by Toren's raid many years ago, so we're all after the same person." Rydia started walking around Kaneas in circles with a smile on her face. "I see then. It's a pleasure to meet you then Kristin."

    Firomis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he reopened his eyes, he had regained his calm composure and was able to speak like normal. "You certainly did surprise me by showing up here all of a sudden. Does that mean you have information on Toren's whereabouts?" Firomis looked down at Rydia with a smile. "Nothing worth following up, actually the reason I came here was because Deckard and I found Estellise." Firomis looked at Kaneas again slowly. "Oh? So then where was she last seen?" Kaneas grinned behind his mask. "The two of them are resting inside one of your guest rooms for now. They had quite a battle with each other, and Deckard was pretty beat up. It's a wonder that he was able to live through it." Rydia chirps in quickly. "Estellise is so pretty! She's got this really amazing looking outfit on, and her powers are so~ amazing! She was able to completely heal Deckard, and it made me admire her so much! Oh~~ I wish I could use my magic like that!" she jumped up and down with excitement like a little child.

    Gaining control over her own actions, Kristin managed to smile and answer when Kaneas talked to her. "The pleasure is mine". She still couldn’t believe that she had actually met someone like Kaneas. He was said to be a very strong air user. She watched in silence as Kaneas and Rydia told them about Deckard and Estellise. She remembered the names from the previous day. "So you've made use of my house without my permission again." Firomis shook his head slowly. "You have a bad habit of doing stuff like that. It's no wonder why you have very few friends." Firomis walked over to Kaneas and shook his hand. "It is good to see you again though, I would like to meet Deckard and Estellise once they are able." Kristin walked over at Rydia. "Did you sleep well?” she asked her. "So, Estellise is strong? How strong is she?” Still, even though she was talking to Rydia, she made sure that she could hear everything from Firomis’ and Kaneas’ conversation.

    Rydia looks up at Kristin and nods. "I slept very well, thanks! As for the questions about Estellise, those will be answered later I think. You have to see her in person." She smiled at Kristin. Firomis began to walk towards the coliseum. "It's been a while since our last duel, what do you say to another one?" he asked Kaneas as he walked. Kaneas turned and began to follow him, as did Rydia. "Sounds good to me, I've been itching to test a new technique out." Firomis grinned slightly as he walked. "As have I." Kristin sighed for a moment, slightly disappointed. "I was never good with patience, but I guess you are right", she said and followed Kaneas and Firomis to the coliseum. "This will be an interesting battle", she said. She was still a bit worried though. She was always worried as a matter of fact. Was it wise to fight each other, just for the fun of it?

    Kaneas, Rydia, Kristin, and Firomis entered the coliseum, where the rest of the members of Silver were waiting. "Davius told us you would probably show up here Kaneas." Rita said politely. Celestia broke away from the rest of the group and sat down in one of the chairs on the outer rim of the coliseum. "I'm not interested in getting beat down by Kaneas." she smiled at the group. Firomis lifted his foot to take a step, instantly appearing with the rest of the group and facing Kaneas. "I see, so this is a team battle then. That makes it all the more fun and interesting. Rydia, you might want to take Kristin and go sit over by Celestia, I wouldn't want to hurt you three."

    Kristin didn’t like being left out of things, but realizing that to argue wouldn’t be so smart, considering the difference between her and the rest of the members of the Silver in terms of magic use, she sat next to Celestia, folding her arms over her chest in a very childish way. Celestia put her hand on Kristin's shoulder. "Don't feel left out. Kaneas is on a completely different level compared to us." she smiled at her before placing her arms around Rydia, when Rydia sat in her lap.

    "Ready when you guys are." Kaneas said as he looked over the group her was about to spar with. Kevin and Lydia broke from the rest of the group and initialized the first attack. Lydia slammed her fist into the ground, creating a ripple that sent large spikes up from the ground towards Kaneas, as Kevin tried to get around behind him to attack. Kevin put his palm outwards towards Kaneas and small droplets of water began to form around Kaneas, eventually creating a water bubble with him in the middle of it. From there, Kevin started creating droplets of water, which started freezing and becoming long spear-head like projectiles, moving at a fast pace towards Kaneas. The water bubble around him also began to freeze quickly, to prevent him from being able to move. Kristin watched the fight with amazement. She would probably never be able to reach such a level of power, but she could still dream of doing so. At that moment, she felt rather weak compared to the rest. And Kaneas hadn’t even started fighting yet. He would probably beat them all very easily. Kristin was interested in watching the new techniques that Kaneas and Firomis were going to try out.

    Suddenly, the spikes coming from the ground are instantly destroyed by several small and precise cuts from a strong wind, along with the ice shards coming from up above. The water bubble is popped, and both Kevin and Lydia are knocked up against the wall, falling unconscious instantly from the force of the blows. Kaneas appeared to not have even moved even an inch, still standing in the same exact spot with the same pose, although most of his clothing was damp. “I already took a bath this morning. I didn’t need another one you know.” Kaneas laughed at the situation for a moment, waiting for the next combatants. Kristin's eyes opened up wide. He was as strong, and maybe he was even stronger than the rumors and stories said. Kristin couldn’t help but wonder why they hadn’t attacked Fenix before. If they had Kaneas with them the whole matter would have been finished in a few hours.

    Natalia, Hayato, and Ayane quickly broke away from the rest of the group next, and formed a three man cell, with Ayane in the center. Natalia and Hayato focused on creating a series of ground tremors and spikes all around Kaneas, and then greatly reinforcing their bodies with magical armor made from earth. Ayane waved her finger around in the air, creating a swirling stream of fire, throwing it towards Kaneas and expanding it all around him. The fire expanded much quicker than she had anticipated however, due to a constant swirling twister that enveloped the area around Kaneas now. It was impossible to see anything through the twister of flames, but that didn't stop Natalia and Hayato from charging through it to attack Kaneas from the inside. The two of them were inside the twister for a good three minutes, and the sounds of clashing was loudly heard even over the sound of the twister's wind and flames. In a fashion similar to how Kevin and Lydia were downed, the two siblings were thrown from inside the twister, and into the walls of the coliseum. On each of their bodies were noticeable cracks, and the moment they hit the walls the armor of dense sand around their bodies fell to the ground. In the next moment, Ayane was the next to receive a strong blow, knocking her out and against the wall without her even being able to see the direction of where it came from. The twister of flames continued on for another 3 seconds, before it somehow instantly killed off the flames and returned to being just a strong wind.

    "Kaneas is really strong, isn’t he?” she said, never taking her eyes off of him. If she had him as a teacher....she could turn out to be really strong. "I thought Firomis was going to fight” Celestia nodded and looked at Kristin. "He will, but the others like to try and tire him out a bit before the main fight. And if you're thinking about trying to become a student of Kaneas, you should probably throw that idea away. Kaneas doesn't accept students who come to him wanting to become stronger. He only accepts students for his own reasons, and from what I know he has only ever had one student, that being Deckard."

    Tarren, Damian, Karen, and Rita are the next to break from the group and each of them moves to a corner on in the coliseum. Damian and Karen slam their fists into the ground several times, creating several tremor waves towards Kaneas as well as a wave of spikes protruding outwards from the ground. The spikes are cut off instantly when they enter the twister, but the ground around Kaneas begins to shift, making him turn around slowly to see what was happening. Without him having a chance to move, several layers of earth domes surround him and cage him in, forcing the twister to finally stop.

    From there, Rita and Tarren begin to send wave after wave of wind currents towards the domes, as well as streams of lightning which reaches the domes first and pierces through them towards the inner area where Kaneas was at. The winds finally reached the domes after the lightning and broke those completely apart throwing dust up into the area around them where Kaneas was thought to be. Not even a moment after, the dust began to swirl around in a circle before being thrown everywhere to disperse it quickly, Kaneas no longer in sight. A quick glimpse of him is seen, but it was so quick that it almost looked like he was in four places at one time. The four Magistrates are knocked out quickly with one strike each, and Kaneas had returned to the center of the coliseum where he was at before.

    "It’s not as if I am going to beg him to take me as a student. Still though, it would have been good if he did", she said and let out a sigh. Another victory for Kaneas against Firomis' team, she thought. "Why haven’t you attacked Fenix earlier? With Kaneas and Firomis you would surely win easily." "Kaneas has no interest in the city of Beythemisia, and Firomis doesn't like to use brute force to do things. He is a negotiator first, then if things aren't going how he'd like he uses alternative methods. Besides, Fenix is still a Magistrate. If we attacked him recklessly, the others might turn against us, and the Royal family may get involved. Then it becomes a big mess. I think he's talking with the royal family on a regular basis now, so he just needs to find a time to tell them about Fenix's mysterious dealings with the underground. There’s also the question of who is working for Fenix. Fenix has connections all over Beythemisia AND Thelmios. If we were to just strike without gathering information first, we’d surely be in for a surprise."

    Firomis looked over at the remaining three members next to him, Hayate, Hiroko and Artemis. Artemis looked back at Firomis with a grin. "My turn I guess." He walked away from the group and took a stance when he got close enough to Kaneas. "You were always one of my favorite opponents Artemis. My favorites being the twins, merely because of their physical skills, but as far as magic goes you are the best aside from Firomis." Artemis looked at his opponent, the grin fading and his face becoming more serious. "I appreciate the compliment, the last four made you move from your standing place; hopefully I can do the same on my own."

    Kristin stood up. "I am going to...take a bath", she said, looking for an excuse to leave. She walked to the mansion and locked herself inside her room. Fenix wanted something and that something he wanted caused problems to everyone. If she could find him, maybe she could actually help a little, since he had send people to find her. If the problem was solved with as little involvement from the Magistrates here, then there would be no need for the royal family or the other Magistrates to be involved. Plus there would be no attack and that would make Firomis a bit happier. She grabbed what little things were in the room and belonged to her, and unlocked the door. Chanting a spell, she turned invisible. She walked the hallway, making no sound at all, floating in the air. She went out of the Caine mansion. She looked behind her, before starting to run.

    A wind much stronger than hers suddenly kept her in place once she left the mansion. Celestia rose up in front of her, just as Rydia floated down behind her. "Do you think you're the only one with ties to Fenix?" Celestia said calmly. Celestia was wearing a white glove with an emblem of some sort on it that she hadn't been wearing before. Using the hand with the glove on it, she swiped at the air that Kristin was residing in, and her spell was instantaneously canceled which forced her back into a physical form. "If you leave now, wouldn't it just make Firomis and the rest of us worry even more? We're a team now right? We'll help you Kristin, so don't worry about us." Rydia smiled brightly. Celestia nodded in agreement with her and placed her hand on Kristin's shoulder. "The Royal family's involvement with the Fenix matter is something that is needed. Each one of the members of Silver has something that Fenix has taken away in some form or fashion, be it pride, money or something else. I think you should know something about Rydia, since you are one of us now." She looked over at Rydia and nodded. "Um..." Rydia walked around to the front to look at Kristin, but ended up looking at the ground instead. "I actually have... three powers... the third is..." she bit her lip and began to hesitate for a moment.”It's the strongest element in existence, the power of Mystics. It has no specific element, because it is comprised of every single element, and it has different forms. In short... I can read your mind..." Rydia began to look very sad and depressed a side of her that wasn't ordinarily seen. "I'm sorry."

    Kristin felt a little betrayed. "No worries", she lied with a smile to Rydia making thoughts that didn’t match with what she felt. "We are a team, right? No secrets between us", she said in a bitter voice. That was the reason why Rydia was always with her? To keep an eye on her, making sure that she doesn’t run away or do something considered stupid? "Still, I bet I can go for a walk if I want to, can’t I?” she asked Celestia. She knew that now there was no point in trying to use any magic. Celestia would cancel it immediately. "Can I?” she repeated.

    Rydia shook her head. "That's not why..." she stepped out of Kristin's way and started running away towards the mansion again. Small droplet's of water could be seen falling down from her face and making the paved road wet as she ran inside the mansion. "You say words that contradict your actions. If you are to be a part of this team, you need to work with us as part of it instead of seeking your own path. You may do as you wish, but just remember that if you leave now with intention of finding your own path, not even Firomis would take you back under his wing." Celestia turned into sand after speaking her words, and then the sand slowly seeped into the ground.

    Kristin sat in front of the door. She didn’t mean to make Rydia cry, but still, that’s how things looked like to her. She hid her face in her palms, trying to thing straight. Obviously, she couldn’t go. Everyone was going to be really angry at her if she did, and the last person she wanted mad at her was Firomis. She inhaled deeply in an attempt to stop the tears from running down her face. Rydia now was crying and that was her fault. Firomis was going to be so mad with her when he found out. She had to make a decision. Leave or stay? These people were the closest thing to family she had the last few years, after her family died, but still she felt as only a burden to them. She was to weak to actually help them and she only caused them problems. She got up slowly and went back inside the mansion. She didn’t go to the coliseum though, nor to her room. She thought that she had to change rooms now. She kept walking in the hallways, which seemed to have no end, wondering aimlessly. How was she going to face Rydia or anyone of them again?

    Artemis started off with his technique he used against Kristin, creating several twisters enveloped in flame that shot out streaming fireballs all over the coliseum grounds. This time however, the numbers were increased 10 fold, but Kaneas easily managed to dodge each and every one of them. "I can't blow out your flames; you're quite tough still Artemis." Kaneas said, while quickly moving directly behind Artemis. "But I can take out the caster!" he threw a punch, but Artemis was no longer in front of him, and was now standing on the opposite end of the coliseum. "Flaming Wind Dragon." he moved his palm forward in front of his body and clenched his fist. The flaming twisters turned into a strong wind, coming together at the center of the coliseum and forming a large, 50 foot tall dragon of fire, which was constantly being refueled by the winds swirling around it. Kaneas grinned and his eyes opened wide. "Interesting... but I wonder-" he started to say as the dragon moved almost instantly behind him, leaving a long flaming streak behind it as it swung at Kaneas, slightly scorching his feet as Kaneas jumped into the air. "It's as fast as the wind is... that's quite a technique."

    "Miss Rain." Davius looked at her with a smile from a few feet ahead of her. "The cooks just brought out a fresh batch of brownies and cookies. Would you mind taking them over to the coliseum? I'm certain Rydia would love to have them fresh." He was standing next to the doors leading into the kitchen, and it looked as though he was currently busy attending to something else.

    "I suppose I can", she mumbled. "Though I don’t want to go there right now", she entered the kitchen and took a tray full of freshly baked brownies and cookies. She hurried outside and went straight to the coliseum, where she left the tray and left as fast as she could. She didn’t think Rydia wanted to see her right now, so she wasn’t going to force her do it. She went back into the mansion and went up the first stairs she saw, going as far away from everyone as possible. Maybe they were going to worry, maybe they were going to be angry or just ignore the fact that she wasn’t down there with them. She opened a door of an empty room and then went outside to the balcony. She could see everything from such a high. The whole garden and the rest of the house as it lay before her eyes. She wondered if she could go even higher. She chanted the right spell and the next moment she was up in the air, getting higher and higher, enjoying the freedom she always felt every time she flew. It was cold at such a height but she didn’t mind. She tied her red hair up in pony-tail to stop it from getting in her face.

    Rydia and Celestia returned to the coliseum and sat back down like they were before. Rydia was smiling now, but it was noticeable to the ones close to her that it was a fake smile. "It's alright Rydia. We'll get Davius to get the cooks to make you something sweet after this." Rydia nodded slowly, watching the fight between Kaneas and Artemis that was still going on.

    The fight had been at a stand still for awhile, and Kaneas was still floating in the air. The dragon controlled by Artemis hadn't moved an inch either. Both fighters were wary of the other's possible actions that could be taken to end the match, and Artemis knew that Kaneas was far more powerful, and far faster than he was. "Split, Twin Dragons!" he raised his other hand up and clenched the fist. The dragon split off into two lesser ones that were half the size. "Damn... this is getting to be a pain." Kaneas raised both palms to his sides and a series of lightning currents started to appear around him. The twin dragons flew through the air, riding the wind controlled by Artemis, and swiped furiously at Kaneas, following him everywhere he went. Suddenly, the lightning currents multiplied and became thicker, and began to strike out at the dragons. In an instant, the lightning currents enveloped both dragons and then disappeared, along with both dragons. "W-what?! That's... that shouldn't have been possible! How?!" Artemis shouted out loudly. "There is always more than one way to skin a cat!" Kaneas flashed brightly, turning into the lightning for a moment. The lightning cracked downwards towards Artemis and reached him in a split second, Kaneas reforming physically at the end of the stream. He placed his hand on Artemis's chest and enveloped him in a web of lightning currents. Artemis cried out in pain loudly, and then fell down to the ground, allowing Kaneas to return to his position in the center to face his next opponent.

    "Our turn then." the twins said in unison as they moved from where they were currently to opposite ends of the coliseum grounds. At the same exact time, they took the same stances and their bodies began to flicker for a moment. "Mirror Image." Their voices spoke in complete unison as if they were one person. They closed their eyes and somehow 4 copies were created and standing next to the originals once they reopened their eyes. "Ninjitsu techniques are pretty amazing, I'm glad I learned some myself." Kaneas took the same stance, but instead of creating 4 copies like they did, he created a single one. "This should be all I need to create." he grinned slightly. The Hirokos and Hayates each took out their swords and dispersed around the coliseum. It was clear that the Mirror Imaging technique was nothing to be underestimated, because each of the copies were able to use magic just like the originals were. The twins and their copies took turns attacking and parrying against their opponent, using their swords as focusing items to create large, fast and heavy wind currents followed by streams of lightning. Kaneas seemed to have been having difficulty just dodging the simultaneous attacks, even though the attacks were being made towards two people instead of just one. Even from up where she was at in the sky, Kristin could hear all the noise coming from the coliseum. She looked down and dived. She landed a few meters away from the coliseum and she walked in. Kaneas was fighting with the twins. She sat down to watch, keeping some distance from the others.

    Sweat had begun to beat down on Kaneas' forehead, though his mask hid it from being known to everyone. He'd managed to take out a few of the clones, but there were still 7 enemies total left. "You guys are getting better; maybe I should train a bit more myself." Kaneas laughed a bit and took the initiative to attack finally. The two of his forms created a pincer attack against one of the remaining 4 Hayates, landing the attack and causing the clone to vanish instantly. The rest of the twins followed the same method, attacking right when Kaneas did and slashing through his clone with their swords. "Check. Your move." Hayate said calmly. Kaneas twitched a bit as he backed off to a safe place. "Looks like you won't go down easy either. All right then, I'll step up the level a bit." The lightning currents that Kaneas used to defeat Artemis surrounded his body again, arcing outwards from the center of the room where he was now at and over towards the twins and their clones. One of the clones raised his sword up in the air, while the other five forms quickly sheathed theirs and charged at Kaneas from several directions. "What?!" Kaneas exclaimed in surprise as he lost control over his arcs of lightning that were quickly surging over towards the metal sword, and zapping the clone holding it forcing it to vanish. The twins unsheathed their weapons and each slashed at their opponent, making small cuts on his clothing and even smaller cuts on his skin. Before the swords were able to cut any deeper, Kaneas recreated the lightning currents at point blank range, along with a swirling gust of wind to blow the twins and their clones away, causing them to vanish also. Both Kaneas and the Twins were affected by the lightning currents, and they all let out cries of pain from it, but the Twins were also hit by the swirling wind and knocked out of the fight, though still conscious but not conscious enough to move easily.

    Kaneas shrugged off the pain and returned to the center of the room to prepare himself for the next battle with Firomis. Firomis closed his eyes for a moment a raised his left leg up slightly as he slowly lifted up off the ground. Beautiful white, glimmering feathers began to be created on his back, until they reached out about six feet and two feet wide for each of the two wings he now had. A series of swirling winds began to envelope him as the wings flapped up and down to hold him up, a few feathers occasionally falling down and hitting the ground, turning into a small explosion of lightning. Kaneas's eyes opened widely when he saw the loose feathers explode into a burst of small lightning. "Witness the full power of my newly perfected technique, Kaneas, and don't hold anything back on me." Firomis disappeared instantly, moving at a speed not even Kaneas could perceive. Suddenly, Kaneas is thrown into the air by a punch, then thrown again by another. The punches keep coming, and Kaneas continues to be flung about in the air of the coliseum, unable to break free from the barrage. A final punch is thrown, sending him flying quickly down into the ground and making a crater, and Firomis finally stops moving at the spot where the punch was given in the air above the center of the coliseum.

    The dust on the ground is knocked up into the air, and all of the members of Silver were now awake, having been healed by Rydia so they could witness the final battle. They all looked on in amazement at Firomis' technique, and were struck with awe from its beauty. The dust finally settled after a short moment and Kaneas was kneeling down on one knee, looking as though he was panting from the blows he'd received. The members of Silver were all looking on in amazement. The technique which Firomis had created was not only extraordinarily beautiful, but it was also incredible powerful. Firomis was capable of moving at such a high speed that not even Kaneas, the King of Flash could perceive his movements. The attacks had obviously hurt Kaneas quite a bit, as he was panting and still kneeling on the ground for awhile.

    "That's quite a technique you have created there, Firomis. I'm impressed beyond that which words can describe. These past two years, I was training Deckard and I became a bit stronger myself. However, I never thought that kid would actually teach me something. I suppose it's time to unveil my technique too then." Kaneas stood straight up and closed his eyes. The same lightning currents from before had started to surround him, though there were many more than there had ever been before. "That won't work on me, I've already seen it." Kaneas opens his eyes and raised his arms and palms to his sides, creating a powerful swirling wind around him as well as streams of lightning. The ground around him began to shake, mostly from the wind but also from being struck over and over by the arcs of lightning. Firomis flapped the wings on his back up and down quickly, launching a barrage of feathers down towards the ground. The arrows exploded on contact into spheres of lightning arcs that were two feet in diameter, mostly hitting the lightning and gusts of wind that was surrounding Kaneas, but still getting close enough to do damage to him.

    Several orbs of lightning began to surround Kaneas, spinning around in circles because of the swirling winds around him. The orbs were massive, being five feet in diameter each, making Firomis open his eyes widely in fear of what they'd explode into once he set them off. Just when Firomis was about to release another barrage of feathers, Kaneas dropped down onto one knee and began to pant loudly, and all of his magic disappeared. Firomis narrowed his eyes in surprise. "Ran out of magic to use already?" He grinned for a moment before he charged in quickly, throwing at where Kaneas was kneeling at. Kaneas, however, was now up in midair where Firomis had come from. "What?!" Firomis looked around trying to find Kaneas as quick as he could before he noticed his shadow on the ground and looked up in the air. "I call this technique, Azure Dynamite." Kaneas said calmly and loudly.

    The winds that were once surrounding Kaneas reappeared, several times fiercer than before and caused the feathers on Firomis' wings to fly everywhere and explode once they had contact with something solid or abnormal until the wings were completely gone. The orbs, five in all, re-appeared shortly after his wings were gone and began to crackle and expand. All at one time, the orbs exploded and created a large sphere of lightning in which Firomis had been caught in. To make things worse, the swirling winds became more violent, it was a cage of pain and Firomis had been caught in the middle.

    Nearly everyone in the Coliseum had their hearts pounding in fear that Firomis had died instantly the moment the attack went off. The sheer caliber of magic used to create Kaneas’ ‘Azure Dynamite’ was enough to destroy all of Beythemisia, had it been spread out over a wider area. Strangely however, there weren’t any cries of pain that came from where he was at, nor was there any sign that he had escaped from it and moved somewhere else. When the spells finally ceased, Rydia was sitting on Firomis' shoulders and there was a bright yellow barrier of light surrounding the two of them, and each of them was unscathed. "Thank you, Rydia. You won this duel Kaneas; I would have lost if Rydia wasn't here to save me from that attack." Kaneas dropped down to the ground and looked at Rydia. "That attack was a bit much, I didn't even think about it when I used it. Good thinking Rydia." She shook her head and jumped off Firomis' shoulders. "I just wanted to make sure Firie was okay." she smiled. Rydia banged Kaneas on the head. "If you die, who's going to take care of me after Toren is gone? Stupid." Kaneas laughed, "Sorry, I forgot Rydia. Don't worry, I won't die. I promise you that. We're going to check up on Deckard, see you later." Kaneas and Rydia waved as they turned into a light and disappeared. Firomis waved at them as they left, leaving a strange look on his face as if he wouldn’t see them again for a long time.

    The fight was over at last. Kristin stood up and stretched a bit. She wanted to go and see Deckard and Estellise too, but she could wait until they were better. She walked up to Firomis, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Maybe he did know what she almost did. She let down her hair and then run them a few times with her fingers. "Nice fight", he told him. "It was indeed a good fight. Kaneas is just as strong as ever." Firomis smiled and looked at the rest of the members of Silver, who were now gathering in one spot. "I did notice you left the Coliseum for a bit, was something wrong?" Kristin blushed a bit. "No, no. Everything is just fine", she said. He didn’t know. That was a relief, though Celestia would surely tell him sooner or later. "Aren’t you tired?” he asked him, trying to change subject. "From the fight I mean." "You shouldn't worry about me so much; I haven't even used up a quarter of my energy reserves today. The perfected technique isn't as reckless as what I did that other day." he turned and began walking towards the others. Kristin was tempted not to follow him and go back inside the mansion, but she didn’t. When they reach the others she couldn’t even look Celestia in the eyes.

    Celestia walked over and stood right beside Kristin, putting her arm around her and pulling her against her side. The glove that she had put on her hand before was no longer there, and she had a smile on her face. She leaned closer and whispered into Kristin's ear. "Cheer up, we all do things we regret later." she turned back to look at Firomis, still with her arm around Kristin. Kristin smiled but it wasn’t a real smile. Celestia's arm around her felt as if it was restraining her. It was a thing a mother would do to keep her child from misbehaving. "Sure, sure", she muttered. She hadn’t regretted trying to leave. She still thought that was the right thing to do. She had regretted making Rydia sad though and probably having everyone mad at her now.

    "I have something important to tell everyone, so listen up." Firomis spoke in a loud and clear voice. He paused for a moment to make sure he had everyone's attention before he spoke again. "Rydia is leaving with Kaneas." The members of Silver all gasped in response. "W-what? Why?!" Celestia asked, taking her arm away from Kristin and walking up to Firomis. "As you all well know, Rydia is a unique and very gifted magic user that is capable of controlling the mysterious and unknown element that belongs to Mystics. Because that, Kaneas believes that all the raids on Beythemisia within the past few years and on other towns, have all been so that he could find her. The safest place for her to be now is with Kaneas, Deckard and Estellise. She's like a sister to him, so she'll be well taken care of. It'll also be good for her to be around Estellise and Deckard, since they also can use Light Magic. This is for the best." Firomis looked around at everyone, and though they all hesitated for a moment they agreed with him. "Rydia contacted me through telepathy just a moment ago, saying that the four of them had already left town. She also told me she left a personal message for someone with Celestia, so whenever you have a chance Celestia make sure the message is told, Celestia." Celestia opened her mouth in shock. "Ahh. So that's what she meant... I didn't think about the possibility that she was leaving us..." Celestia looked down at the ground for a moment. "Well then, you're all free to do whatever you wish for the rest of today. We managed to beat Kaneas up pretty badly today, so feel proud of yourselves." he laughed, and shortly after was joined by everyone else as they laughed also.

    “Still, I think we will all be worried about Rydia. You’ll be in touch with her from time to time right Firomis?” Hayate asked as the rest of the group nodded with him. “Being that I’m the only one who can contact her from extremely long distances, yes I would safe it’s safe to say I’ll be in contact with her periodically.