FF Chapter 23

Luck and Evil join the fight, as Alex is pushed into a corner.

Chapter 23

      The raging battle was brought to a screeching halt by the raucous sound of lightning and thunder. A few bolts pierced the battlefield, igniting wood and extinguishing fights wherever they struck. Everyone knew what it signified, and either smiled or trembled depending on which side they were on.

      Whar hastily deactivated his beast gift; it wouldn’t help them against this opponent, it would only cloud his soldiers’ judgement, robbing them of their justifiable fear and the self-preservation it granted them.

      As the beating drum in his head quieted, Alex regained his senses and hazily looked around. Everyone was staring in one direction. He turned around in time to see a beautiful woman with long hair step out onto the main street and walk right up to him.

      “Hello dear, are you lost?” Luck smiled sweetly.

      Whar commanded his troops to fall back. He’d learned early on that sometimes wisdom was knowing when not to fight, and this was definitely one of those cases. For the first time in many fights, he felt a twinge of cold fear drip down his spine as the rebel group gathered around their mistress; confident smiles plastered on their faces.

      Alex froze in place, and faced Luck with a nervous smile. “Um…hi…A-Aunt L-Luck.”

      “Hello.” Luck smiled back. “You seem to be in a bit of trouble. Would you like some help?”

      Alex took a nervous step back, only to realize he was backing up towards Whar and his group. “Yeah, I do feel a bit…pinned.” He glanced around, looking for any way out; he found none.

      Luck gestured to the crowd around her. “You know I protect my own, all you’d have to do is join me and I would make you untouchable. I would even give you the power to defeat these ruffians yourself-”

      As she spoke, she froze. The flames birthed by her lightning were vanishing. It wasn’t just them, it was every fire in the town; from candle to roaring blaze were all snuffed out in an instant.

      Whar and his men parted, and through the divide rode a man in black armour atop a dark steed. Without a word, he dismounted and walked towards them. Behind him his horse vanished in a plume of fire and smoke that moved to engulf him. Obscured by the fire, Evil changed. Banishing the crimson veil, he emerged as a tall man in a black coat that almost obscured the red dress shirt underneath. On his chest was a sunflower pin, and his hip was decorated with a longsword. His hair was tar black and long, but not unkempt. His entire demeanor screamed that he proudly cared how he looked, but not how others viewed him.

      Stepping out of the blazing torrent, he approached his sister. “Can’t leave you alone for ten minutes without you burning the house down, can I?”

      “Hello Evil.” Luck tried to maintain a civil tone, but was slowly failing. “So nice to see you.”

      “And is this Alexander?” He looked down at the boy. “My you’ve grown. I can’t believe I’m the last one of my siblings to see you after all these years. You should’ve visited.”

      Luck interrupted him before Alex could speak. “And this is one of the rare times I’ve seen you with that face on. Still wearing that ridiculous mane?” She gestured to Evil’s hair.

      “Of course.” He smiled, running his fingers though his hair proudly. “Most warriors have to keep their hair short so it doesn’t get pulled or caught on anything during a fight, but no mortal has ever laid a hand on me, let alone clipped a single lock of my hair.”

      “Oh yes, your warriors.” She looked past him to where Whar and Malent stood with the rest of their group. They, like her soldiers, had stopped fighting the instant the Hands arrived. Everyone knew who they were, and that either of them could wipe out the entire town should they wish it; compared to that the small skirmish seemed trivial. “You know your group seems to get rougher every time I see them. Now that I think about it, didn’t one of them insist on speaking in rhymes?”

      Evil rolled his eyes “Oh yes, that one. He’s over there. I cut his tongue out before I made him ageless. I wasn’t dealing with that for a day more than I had to. Besides, each one of them is worth five of the weak little peons you surround yourself with. Have any of them even swung a sword before? Then again, I wonder if that’s the point. Are you only able to command weaklings, or are you drawn to them out of some form of kinship?” He pointed at Alex. “This boy doesn’t belong with you, he deserves tutoring worthy of his skill. What do you say?” He turned to the boy “I can quadruple your power in a week, and offer you training from the greatest warriors who’ve ever lived, myself included.”

      Alex tried to smile as the two Hands bore down on him, and eyes pierced him from every angle. “Um, sorry, but I’m happy how I am now.”

      Evil looked at him incredulously. “Surely you’re joking.” He gestured toward the small portion of his army that stood behind him. “You’ve seen their power, you know how strong we are, yet you still refuse my hospitality?” He growled under his breath, annoyed. Luck noticed her brother’s temper, and smiled to herself.

      “It seems he’s rejected us both, but regardless…we can’t just let Future have him either.” Her voice was laced with sweet venom.

      Evil stared at Alex before slowly smiling. “…agreed.”

      Alex slowly realized exactly what they meant. “Oh…OH NO!” With fear fueling him, he fled.

 

      Luck motioned after him, but Evil stopped her with a hand. “It’s only sporting to give your prey a short head start.” He turned to both their armies. “And you lot, stay out of this! I want some fun.” He held up three fingers, then two, and with his final finger he snapped. Immediately a fireball, bigger than his head, appeared in his hand. With a gesture the ball chased Alex down the street.

      Alex noticed the gaining projectile, and darted down an alley. With a flick if his finger, Evil commanded the fireball to follow, before getting closer to observe. He skipped over scraps, and danced around debris, always keeping one eye on Alex, and another on his sister. It was just like her to wait and swoop in at the last second. He remembered how much of a sore loser she was, and how she’d tried to kill young Alex when they first met. Evil would not be denied this time; the prize was too valuable to be lost in the grip of his master.

      The fireball chased Alex until he grabbed a barrel of water from outside a restaurant and chucked it at his pursuer. The fireball died. He didn’t have time to rest though, as Luck summoned a bolt of lightning to electrify the pool of water that gathered near his feet, trapping him. He climbed up the side of the building, but was quickly followed when both Hands casually jumped onto the two-story roof.

 

      From the bridge of Yanus Academy, many students watched the carnage in Sanel. Among them were Eira, Frey and Anastazia; Indol had sprinted inside the barrier and kept running. Eira had cursed the cowardly girl, but wasn’t going to chase after her, she was too busy hating herself for not being able to help Alex; but she, nor anyone else in the school, could do a thing with two Hands out there.

      Indol returned, out of breath, with a metal ball in her hands.

      “Where were you…and what’s that?” Eira demanded.

      “I was at my lab, and this is a container that will explode when filled with beast mark energy.”

      “It seems a bit small.”

      Indol smiled through her panting. “Don’t worry, it’ll pack a punch.”

      She saw Alex dodging attacks while rushing to the barrier, and ran out a ways towards him. “Alex, catch!” She yelled, before tossing it with all her might.

      Alex caught it, and recognized immediately what he had to do. Charging it with his power, he tossed it behind him and ran even faster.

      Luck and Evil were right behind him, weary of each other as much as Alex, so when the boy tossed something over his shoulder, they both aimed to blast it out of the sky. Luck’s lightning struck first, and the metal ball fed off both her lightning and Evil’s fire to bloom into a massive red flower that exceeded all Indol’s expectations. The intense shockwave that followed thundered in Alex’s chest, before picking him off his feet and tossing him towards the barrier. Eira, Frey and the rest of his friends dragged him inside to safety before looking around at the fallout.

      The outskirts of Sanel were completely destroyed, with the sides of whole buildings shaved off. There was a small crater directly underneath where the bomb had exploded midair, and both Hands were just picking themselves off the ground, knocked back by both the explosion and their own surprise. They recovered quickly and approached the bridge barrier, knowing neither of them could touch Alex now.

      Alex was wheezing, coughing up dust. The back of his shirt was torn up, and his wounds were crying crimson tears that stained his clothes, but he was happy to be alive.

      Indol hugged him, tears of joy and worry bubbling in her eyes, threatening to burst. She didn’t let go until the medics arrived.

      Evil and Luck looked down at their nephew, wondering what to do next. Should they just leave? Should they try and fight each other? Before they came to a decision, they whipped their heads in unison to the west. They both felt it; Future was on his way.