• The Eve of Eternity: Chapter 9 - Mysteries Unveiled

    “Teleportation? What magical element allows that?!” Deckard looked around where he and the others were now at. Just a mere second ago, Estellise, Kaneas, Rydia and him were all inside the Caine mansion. “Glad to see that you’re alive and well again Deckard.” Deckard looked at Kaneas, entirely confused about the situation. He then realized Estellise was there also, and suddenly threw his arms around her tightly. “Estelle...” She smiled slightly and hugged him back before pushing him away and punching him hard in the face. “You idiot! Why did you hold back in our fight? You could’ve been killed by doing that! Not only did you take the damage from my attack, but you took damage from your own attack too!” She continued ranting at him for a while before finally stopping and sitting down in the grass. Deckard sighed in relief, and sat down also. Rydia walked over to Deckard and began poking his cheek where he was punched by Estellise. “Ouch! Stop that!” he started swatting her hand away quickly. “Who are you anyway?”

    Rydia smiled cheerfully for a moment and jumped back to a spot where she could twirl around in circles. “I’m Rydia! Nice to meet you.” She smiled again and held out her palms face up. Almost instantly, two small balls of light appeared and flew up into the sky. After they reached a good height, they exploded, lighting up the night sky with a small fireworks show. Every time a new ball exploded, it made a small cat face in a different color in the sky. “What the-“Deckard looked at the girl for a moment. She was shorter than him by almost a foot, but Deckard was only five foot seven to begin with, even Estellise was taller than he was! It wasn’t until Rydia would stand next to Kaneas that it seemed like she was child-like in height, being that Kaneas was six foot five. Rydia was extremely beautiful, even compared to Estellise. She had long and straight blonde hair that went down to her lower back. She was wearing a white jacket with golden trim, a white shirt and a pair of white pants with golden trim. Her shoes were also pure white, much like the rest of her outfit, but they were designed to be comfortable rather than pretty- though they still looked pretty-. Around her neck was a golden pendant in the shape of a star, which was slightly concealed by a pure white scarf wrapped around her neck with the ends hanging down behind her.

    Deckard had a hard time taking his eyes off of Rydia for a long while, completely entranced by her actions and her appearance. “Well Rydia… I’m –“Rydia poked his cheek where he was punched again. “Deckard! I already know!” Kaneas began laughing for a short moment. “Maybe it’s time to explain who you are Rydia.” Rydia nodded and sat down in front of Deckard, and Estellise sat beside her shortly after. “My name is Rydia Silverlight. I am a half breed born from a human mother and an angelic father, also known as a Nephilim.” Deckard’s and Estellise’s eyes opened widely in astonishment. “Half angelic… I didn’t think angels really existed.” Deckard looked at her for a long time. “Where are your wings?” Rydia frowned and slammed her fist down on Deckard’s head. “What is it with people always wondering where my wings are after I tell them I’m a Nephilim?! Pure bred angels are born with the ability to summon their wings. Nephilim however, because we have human minds, have to learn to control their power to summon their wings. I… haven’t learned how to do it yet. Anyway, angels are born with a unique gift, the element known as Mystical energy. Much like angels, Nephilim are also born with Mystical powers, although we are capable of controlling other magical elements as well. I can control three, air, light, and mystic. Fortunately, I don’t use my magic to harm people; I only use it to aid them. However, due to that reason my powers haven’t developed as much as they could have.”

    Kaneas walked over to the three of them. “This is just one of many reasons why we will be looking after Rydia from now on. Deckard, I am putting you in charge of teaching Rydia how to use her Light magic, and I’ll teach her Air magic myself.” Estellise looked up at Kaneas, “Wouldn’t it be wiser for her to learn from me rather than Deckard?” Kaneas shook his head slowly. “I know that you are very adept in light magic as well Estellise, but when it comes to defensive magic, Deckard is much better. I’ve only seen your style of combat once, but that was all that I needed to see. You are more prone to offensive magic rather than defensive when it comes to using Light energy. The reason for this is no doubt due to your secondary element being Earth. Most magic users who control a single element are generally forced to focus on being offensive and defensive at the same time. A multi-element user however does need to do that. While I’m almost certain that you could learn defensive spells in a short amount of time, I think it is best to leave this to Deckard since he has focused mostly on defensive magic from day one. As of now, our team will be comprised of us four. Deckard, you’ll be guarding Rydia at all times, while Estellise and I will be the vanguard that will attack anyone we come up against head on.” Estellise’s eyes opened widely. “You gathered that much about me from just watching me fight once? That’s pretty stalkerish. Why do I have to be part of the vanguard with you anyway, I don’t even know who you are.”

    Kaneas chuckled a bit and sighed. “Continue, Rydia.” Rydia nodded and put a finger on her lips for a moment before resting both hands on her legs. “Right, so another reason my powers haven’t developed as much as they could have is due to the fact that I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life. Almost from the moment that I was born, I was protected by those around me. I don’t want to reveal any more of my past… it’s a very sad story and I promised myself that I’d never think about sad things unless I have to.” Rydia smiled and jumped up. “Kaney, does that mean you won’t be protecting me anymore?” Kaneas laughed and shook his head. “Of course I will, but I’m more suited for offensive capabilities rather than defensive.” Deckard and Estellise stood up and brushed their clothes off. “So then where are we going to head now? Are we going to look for Toren?” Estellise asked, almost impatiently.

    “Well the first thing we need to do is find information on where we can find Toren. In order to do that, we need to go back to Thelmios. Fortunately, neither of you two walked around Thelmios in broad daylight, right?” Estellise sighed and nodded. “I arrived when it was dark, so they don’t know what I look like.” Deckard looked directly at Estellise for a moment. “That reminds me, why were you fighting bandits on the rooftops in Thelmios anyway? Were you looking for information on Toren?” Estellise shook her head. “Yes and no. Those bandits were actually trying to mug me or something, so I taught them a lesson. I was planning to look for information on Toren though… I wanted to get revenge for what he did to our village. I also wanted to make him pay for what he did to us. I’m sorry that I left you that night, but I thought you were dead…” Estellise dropped down onto her knees slowly.

    “I remember calling out to you and all of a sudden there was a bright light that emitted from your body. The sword wound wasn’t deep enough to kill me, but I swear that you were dead. The light that I saw healed me, and when you didn’t move for a really long time I decided to run away. That light seemed to have drawn the bandits back, so I wanted to hide before they came back. Unfortunately by the time I came back, you were not there anymore.” Estellise looked up at the stars. “I figured that if you were alive, you would find me eventually so I wanted to focus on finding the guy who put us in this situation. That way, as soon as you found me we could head over and give him what he deserves.” She clenched her fist tightly and gritted her teeth. “Well... I guess that is just like how you’ve always been. It’s good to know that you actually knew I was alive though, even though I didn’t have a clue that you were alive at all...” Deckard sighed slowly. “Wait, you didn’t know I was alive? But, you left our village that night didn’t you?” Kaneas looked at Deckard. “I saved Deckard from being killed a second time that night. When he woke up, you weren’t there, but there was a lot of blood on the ground. This guy has a habit of thinking the worst at almost all times.” Estellise laughs. “Yeah he does.”

    “Well, this reminds me of something.” Deckard looked at Kaneas and stared at him for a long time. “That night, you told me you would tell me about yourself some other time because it was dangerous to talk about it there. While we are sitting here talking about the past, why don’t you explain who you are as well?” Kaneas stood completely still for a long time with everyone else staring at him. Rydia nodded. “I want to know too Kaney. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your face even.” She smiled cheerfully and stared at him with everyone else. “Very well, I will show you.” Kaneas reached up with his hand and began to loosen his hood. When the hood was loose enough, her gently grabbed his black mask and removed it. Rydia and Estellise both gasped in unison at the sight of his face. Deckard, who also gasped, instantly stopped moving completely. “You… you look just like Deckard…” Estellise managed to let out those words, thought faintly. Kaneas looked at Deckard. “Are you satisfied now, brother?”