In the aftermath, I was granted permission from Commander Grayson to fly me off to Sonata village. Good thing my pants weren't completely burned, just the half of my lower legs. I still couldn't get over what had happened to Iris valley. It looked as if a meteor crash-landed, burning the green grass and pushed the trees away. But as long as the villagers were safe and have enough supplies, they're good. Not this time you three-headed devil.

We landed at the entrance of the village before I hop out. "Thanks." I waved them goodbye as I entered. Commander Grayson nodded and took off with Eclypto back to the sky. Sonata village was safe and secured. I didn't even care if I'm dirty or not. We didn't have many cleaning supplies anyway. The Flash warriors and villagers looked at me as I walked across the street. Must've been my half-burned pants. The village looked like Snowfall, but without snow and a bit narrower. I guessed that some Flash warriors lived here.

I wandered on an alleyway and to a bridge that reached the other side of the village. In a house filled with boxes in the front yard, an old lady wearing a tie-dye dress sat outside gazing at the recovering sky. It was Sam's grandmother.

"Grandma Pearl," I called. She was the sassiest senior citizen I had ever met in Snowfall village, I even wondered where Sam's attitude came from. Her brown eyes behind those big eyeglasses of hers slowly looked down on me. "Xabiere? Oh, lovely to see you again! Come in, Come in." She gestured to me as if she wanted a hug. "I heard you became one of them. Sam even though that you're an alien. How silly was that? Hahaha . . . are you?"

Despite my hesitation, I pushed myself to speak. "Grandma Pearl, is Sam in there? If he is-"

"Of course, he's in, dear." Grandma Pearl turned her head to an open door. "SAM!!!" Her sweet, gentle voice suddenly changed into an irritating granny's voice.

"What?!" A familiar voice boomed inside the opened door.

"THERE'S SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO SEE YOU!!!"

"What . . . ?!"

"JUST GET OUT HERE!! IT'S ELÍSE'S BOY." A stumble from the room startled me. Sam appeared with filthy goggles and a handkerchief on his face. A bright (And dirty) smile came to his face as he moved his handkerchief down. "Xabe!"

With a painful friendship hug from him, I winced. "It's good to see you again, too."

I patted his back. I once again could breathe as he released me. He then gasped, "Oh my pancakes, you're all right. Except your . . . ."

"I know."

"Do you wanna . . . um . . . you know . . . ." Sam made a swiping gesture to his entire body. "Oh . . . yeah. Thanks, I'll just clean in here." After I went inside to clean myself up and get myself a pair of shorts, I wore a clean white shirt and asked Sam where my family was until I heard another voice. "Xabe?" Chloriette is just standing there, holding a basket for some reason. "Xabe?" Sam's big eyes turned their attention on me.

"Chloriette?" I said.

"Chlor-what now?" Sam, again, asked. I went closer to her. We gazed at each other's eyes. She's okay, she's in one piece. Thank the heavens.

The abrupt embrace from her startled me back to reality. "I thought something wrong happened to you," she murmured.

"But, I'm still here," I said. Just as quickly as she hugged me, she let me go. She started feeling awkward. I guess her friendliness can sometimes be shown to anyone and anywhere. "Wha- what did you do? Are the people in the Iris valley safe?"

"They're all safe. Well . . . except their home went black. If you know what I mean," I acknowledged.

"What about the Devastrigon?" She whispered so no one can hear us.

"We took care of it," I riposted. "Good thing it didn't reach this place." I looked down.

"Yeah, it didn't," she said. Behind the busy crowd of villagers and warriors, Victor and Lenard barged through towards us.

"MaXabiere!" Victor called from the distance. "Whoa, what happened there?"

"It got intense, but we made it," I smiled. Victor stretched out a thumbs-up with a grin.

"But it's not nice what happened to Iris valley," Victor rested his hands on his waist. His grin vanished. I could see the shape of his biceps behind his folded blue sleeves. He looked dustier from what I assume was from work. "Hopefully we could do something for them."

"Sonata village isn't a nice place for more villagers," remarked Lenard before widening his eyes to me. "And oh my goodness you're alive!"

Victor went back to his cheery side. "Good thing Sean and his team taught the Devastrigon to go home. It didn't fight back- it just gave up. Anyway." Victor smiled wider. "I have nothing else to say but . . . WOW. I wish I could time-travel and join with you guys."

I chuckled, "That's not a very good idea."

"Ahem." Sam's presence suddenly reminded me that I was talking to him before. I forgot he's here . . . Aaand now I'm embarrassed. "Oh, guys. I forgot." I stood beside Sam. "This is my best friend, Sam." They all greeted him. "Sam. This is Victor, Lenard, and Chloriette. They are Flash warriors, like me."

"I can see that." Sam crossed his arms. "So you guys have magic and stuff?"

"Yup." Victor nodded.

"Absolutely," Lenard said.

"Yeah, pretty much," Chloriette added.

Sam nodded while scanning the three of them with a Hmmmmmmm expression. "Amazing." He observed just by looking at them. Granny Pearl stood next to him. "I see. You're Xabiere's new friends. How wonderful. Especially you, young lady. You look so beautiful, for a Flash warrior," she complimented Chloriette.

"Thank you." She blushed.

"You know, you're almost perfect for Xab-." That made me blush to the point where I want to tell Sam's grandmother to shut up. But Sam got it. "Grandma, I think it's time for you to go to bed."

"But it's not three yet."

"Yes, it is."

"Sam," I called. "It's great to see you again, but I need to see my family. Do you know where they are?"

"They're in the Bush hill street."

"Okay, thanks." I watched as he escorted his grandmother to the house. Now it felt awkward every time I looked at Chloriette, unlike the night bonding with her. "Guys, I need to go. I missed all of you too, but I gotta go to my family first."

"We understand," Lenard said. "We'll just see each other back in the Flash warriors academy. All the warriors are returning there." We bid our byes before heading to Bush hill street. I checked the signs. Grass top street, Bill waters street, Dandelion street, until I finally found its name. It led to the left that looked like a wide alleyway cornered with houses. In a crowd, I saw a girl wearing a simple green dress. The color of her eyes was the eyes I wanted to see. I've never seen her hair in a ponytail before, but that's her. "Henrich!" I called. She turned to the crowd, searching for whoever called her name. I went towards her while waving my hand.

She spotted me, face filled with shock upon recognizing who called her. She met me halfway. "Xabe?!" Her eyes widened. We both hugged each other for several minutes. For five weeks, I realized just how much I missed my sister who is always locking my head. "I missed you, so I decided to take a visit."

"Oh, Xabe, it's great that you're here. I heard you're on a mission. Wait, the dragon-"

"Not to worry, it's gone. Well, not completely gone. It just . . . nevermind. Where do you guys live?" Henrich ushered me into a house.

The residence was nice, but it was smaller than I had expected, including the living room. Just for the four of us. She called our sisters as we entered. "Girls, our brother's here!" The stairs emit a sound resembling a dog chasing a cat. We saw Rosie and Mondrea stumbling on a wall. Rosie's feet were on Mondrea's face.

"Get your feet off me!" Mondrea yelled.

"Get your butt off my face!" Rosie pouted. Henrich and I exchanged looks before turning to them again.

"Xabe?" Mondrea peered at my face as if she just saw me after many years.

A hard slap burned my right cheek. "Ow!" We both shouted at the same time. I rubbed my cheek while she shook her hand that was burning red. "What was that for?" I demanded.

"Sorry." She shook her hand. "I'm practicing ghost hunting. Just to make sure you're not a doppelgänger. And when did your face turned into steel? Ow."

"I've been training. A lot." I rubbed my cheek. It didn't hurt much, unlike the last time. "So where's mom? How is she?"

"She's upstairs," Rosie answered. "We're just waiting for Henrich to bring her medicine." We then headed there, gathered to see a wooden door. "Mother is well," Henrich told me. "But yesterday, after reading a book, she didn't feel so good. I asked Nurse Joy what was going on with her. She said her condition is turning unstable."

"I thought that book was cursed," Mondrea retorted.

"For the fifth time, it's not cursed!" Henrich darted towards her. She sighed before explaining., "Anyway, I bought medicine from the clinic. She said it's a new type of medicine, only for a condition like a mother's," She pulled out a flask with a glowing blue liquid in it. I'm so glad it didn't come with a skull shape. "She said this should cool her down. I hope it would."

"By the looks of it, I think it will." I tried to be optimistic, for their sake. We quietly entered the room. The balanced temperature welcomed us. Mom was asleep in her white bed. She looked dead. "Mom," Henrich whispered, shaking her body gently as we all gathered around her. "Xabe's home."

"What?" She moaned. Mom carefully opened her eyes. It turned into a size of a ball when she saw my face. "Xabe? I- Is that you?"

"Yup, it's me." I smiled.

She put her medicine down on her table after drinking it. We were currently alone in her quiet room. "You're wearing your father's watch necklace. It fits you." She smiled at the sight of the necklace.

I chuckled, "Yeah, it's been so long I forgot what it feels like wearing it." Then, another important thing that I must talk about.

"Girls, can you give us some time alone?" Without question, my sisters nodded and left.

"I know there's something you want to ask me." Her small smile didn't vanish.

"Oh, you know? Okay . . . um, mom turns out I'm not just a Flash warrior." I looked at her. "I met a Flash warrior, er . . . more like a wizard from outer space, his name is Giuseppe. The commander brought me to him for an important meeting after my training." She paid attention to what I'm about to say. "He said that I'm something . . . more."

"Go on." I'm very uncertain if I'm going to tell her. "Mom, have you ever heard of a myth called a Dragonslayer?" I asked. The silence broke our conversation. She leaned on her bed. "Sweetheart, what you asked is not a myth, but a legend. Why? Why did you ask?"

"Because . . ." Before telling her, I thought of what would her reaction be. Will she be more worried? Will she be anxious about my life? But I gathered all my thoughts and finally said, "Turns out I am one. Giuseppe's telling the truth. My magic is different from the rest." I didn't have many words to say. Instead, I summoned my magic. Fire swirling on my palm. The things in her room hovered, and then I stopped. An awkward moment made us very quiet. Until mother spoke, "You know, your father used to believe in Dragonslayers. I once doubted him, but he's right."

I narrowed my brows. "How did you know?"

"Check the closet." Her voice turned hollow. I opened her only closet. "There's an old box, get it." I did what she told me. I sat on a chair. The box has a code lock. "The password is four, eight, one, zero." I rolled each number. Four. Eight. One. Zero. Then, we heard a small click. "Now, open the box."

"Do you have to say every single step?" I asked.

"Just open it."

"Okay." As I opened the box, a book covered in dust displayed before me. I swept the dust off the book before holding it with my bare hands. I can see a dragon figure in a form of an S shape with a wing spreading out.

The title was The Slayer's Enchiridion. I opened the book filled with information. Different weapons, people, armors, and most importantly- dragons. "Your father found that book. He said it was hidden in an abandoned lighthouse's library. But this one is different. He was surprised about what's inside so he brought it home."

"Why didn't he share this?" I asked, still focused on the pages.

"He read it and told me it was sacred. It cannot be shown in public. Only the Dragonslayer has the right to use it in his own will."

"Says the guy who stole it," I commented.

"And now it's yours," she said.

"What?" I looked up, surprised.

"It's yours, every Dragonslayer needs it." I gazed back to the book. I can feel how important it was.

"So that's it?" I quickly turned to her. "I told you that I'm the Dragonslayer and you're just gonna give me a book? No violent reaction or something? Or you knew about me the whole time?"

Mom just gave me a smile, her eyes filled with worry, and cupped her hand on my cheek. "Son, I'm going to tell you this right now. Your father is a Flash warrior, he trained you to be a hunter not because that one day you'll become one just like him, well apparently you are now, but to prepare you for what is yet to come. He and I thought that one day you may face the world far beyond what you know now. It may not be easy, but your father sought strength in you to endure your future."

"I'm kind of reconsidering being a Dragonslayer right now." My face went blank.

"But deep inside." Mom rested her hand on my chest. "You are a fighter, son, you are the Dragonslayer. And always will be. I mean look at you, it is like yesterday I see a short young man with a red scarf around his neck."

"Hey!" I almost glared at her, but I knew she's just saying that to humor me.

"And today I see a fine Flash warrior sitting next to me." Her grin was like seeing the calm atmosphere of the sky.

I smiled back, but of course, it wouldn't be so easy to accept. "I just have so many questions, mom. Particularly more about my magic. Have I awakened it seven years ago?" I turned my eyes to her.

She just simply said, "What do you think?"

Finding out the clear answer, I hugged her tightly because I felt that it might take a long while for me to see my family again. "I know all of this seemed to be very hard for you even if it's for the best," she said.

"I know, I've been trained by a Flash warrior after all. Make that two Flash warriors," I laughed.

"Your father will be so proud." I felt like sobbing. I don't want to let her go. To let them go yet. Mom looked me in the eyes and advised, "Remember, be brave and wise. Work smarter not harder."

A/N:

Wise words, mom, nice words. After an intense battle, this chapter is a breather. And now it is the time for Xabe to believe in himself as he is the only one who can stop the Devastruction. I thank you so much for making it this far and please leave a vote if you truly enjoying the story so far!