*Lei*

[Viento Central Park]

Sitting down on the grassy floor, I wiped sweat off my brow with an emerald handkerchief.

"Tired?" Eri asked, grinning. The barrier of electricity around him dispersed. Neither my brother nor I were able to break through it, even with our wind powers.

"Papa is so awesome!" Raul said, jumping up and down. He stood under the shade of a nearby tree with our immediate family. Also accompanying them were Nyima, Muna, and Sarah.

I snickered. "He sure is."

Eri held out his hand to me. "I think that's enough for now."

"No," Kun said, pushing himself off the ground. "I need to get stronger!"

The blue haired mage let out a sigh. "Is the one beside me Kun? Because right now you're sounding a lot like Lei."

I snickered. "He's right. You do sound like me. If you don't stop then Yen will drag you away when she comes. She'll then give you her long winded lecture on getting rest."

"It isn't the time to joke around..." Kun said, glaring at us. "We won't be able to defeat H.E.H. the way we are now! It took An nearly..." He cupped his mouth and glanced at Sarah who gave us a look of confusion.

"Princess want know happened to An," Serein said, staring into Sarah's eyes.

"It's 'The princess wants to know what happened to An'," his brother corrected.

"That's what me said..." Serein said, furrowing his brow.

Raul sighed.

"Don't get frustrated with him, Raul, he's still learning how to talk," auntie Oca said, snuggling her youngest son.

Serein giggled and hugged the blue dolphin plushy in his arms. Auntie had made it for him while he was still in the womb.

"So, what did happen to An?" Raul asked.

"Uh..." I said, biting my lip. Guess Raul didn't pay attention to what was going on...

Kun lowered his gaze to the emerald grass. "He overused his powers again. But don't worry, he'll wake up."

Sarah gasped.

Serein reached a tiny hand out to her. "An be fine." He smiled at her. "Why? Because he strong. He defeat mean lady for Princess."

"Ohh, so that's the name of the guy who was rushed to the hospital!" Raul said.

"Raul!" his mother snapped.

The kid tilted his head at his mother. "Uhh, was I not supposed to mention that?"

Eri sighed. "You sure have a knack for letting things slip..."

His head slumped. "S-sorry... I didn't know..."

Sarah began to thrash around in her wheelchair.

"She wants to go go see An," Serein said.

How did he know what she wanted? Could he read minds? Or maybe it was emotions... Serein seemed to have a high level of empathy, but I didn't expect it to be this deep... He sure was an enigmatic kid.

"No," Kun responded. "Like you said, An will be fine. There's no need to take her there."

Sarah clenched Serein's hand.

"She want to go go," Serein said with an equally defiant look. "It best to fulfill wish."

"I agree," Nyima said. "It's best that she sees how An is doing for herself. The imagination tends to take things to the extreme when one does't know what's going on."

My brother scoffed. "Fine. But don't blame me if something bad happens to her," he said, walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?" I yelled, chasing after him.

"I know you're anxious, but it's going to affect your performance tomorrow," Eri said.

Kun clenched his hands into fists. "I don't want her to have a panic attack. Nor do I wish to give her more to worry about... I don't want to end up like An. Unlike him, I'll finish off all of H.E.H.'s team."

"It's possible that we might not even fight them in the next round," Yuzuki said, walking over to us. Behind her was Nyima who pushed the chair of the princess.

Sarah raised her hands as if she were trying to say something.

"Serein, can you translate?"

"Sure!" the little kid said, rushing over. He nearly tripped but he was caught by a gentle wind.

"Don't trip, Serein!" Raul said.

"Serein sure is clumsy," my little brother said.

Serein blushed. "Me not... clumsy..."

Muna walked over and patted his head. "Your clumsiness is what we like about you."

"Really?" Serein asked, his sapphire eyes shimmering.

Raul scoffed. "Don't let her pull your leg. She's doing an underhanded insult. She's like her brothers."

His little brother's eyes began to water. "Really? Muna being mean?"

"I'm not!" she said. She glanced at Raul. "Don't lie!"

"Yeah, Raul," I said, putting my hands on my hips. "Don't mislead your brother."

Raul pouted. "I'm not! I just don't trust her!"

Nyima sighed. "You sound like the gun knight when I met him..."

"You met Hideo?" Eri asked.

"Yeah, when I was a kid," Nyima said.

"Uh, guys... we still need Serein to tell us what Sarah wants to say," Yuzuki said, chuckling.

"Oh, yeah!" Serein said, wiping away his little tears. He grabbed the princess' hand and stared at her blue eyes. "Me see... She says that Kun is sweet."

Kun blushed deep red. "T-that's it?"

"She also said take care of yourself. She doesn't want anyone else get hurt."

My big brother puffed his chest. "No worries, princess, I won't! I'll have Yen and Lei on my side too! Together the three of us will stop them!"

I smiled. "True!"

"Though Yen is slacking off on her training," Kun said, sighing.

"Well, Hika said that he's heading here with her now," Eri said, staring at his phone.

A chilly wind blew through the park. The only light came from a few lamps.

Papa and Kun glanced around. "We're being spied on."

Ocarina ran over and grabbed Serein. "By who?" she asked, calling water around her.

Aida emerged from within a tree.

"Woah, neat!" Raul exclaimed.

"Raul, don't admire the villain," Kun and I said.

"Right... my bad, but still cool..."

Aida snickered. "Thanks for the compliment, kid."

"What do you want?" Kun asked, narrowing his eyes at her. Hard to believe he wasn't lashing out on her given his earlier rage.

The green haired girl snickered. "I was merely observing the specimen..."

"What specimen?" I asked.

Her index finger pointed at my chest. "That one. The one within you. Though it's hard to believe how a weakling like you got it."

"Watch your tongue!" Kun yelled, stepping forward.

I grabbed my brother's arm. "Don't. I'll handle this."

"Hmm?"

"What makes you think I'm weak?" I asked.

"Your 'condition' makes you weak. People like you are only a hindrance to society. Worse if they're like the princess over there. You are better off dead."

My old doctor's words rung in my head.

Earth spikes stabbed her.

"I warned you!" Kun yelled as he raised the ground.

Aida chuckled as the spikes crumbled. She didn't even seem to feel pain... Actually, no blood emerged from her wounds. What was she?

"Is that all? I expected more from you. Though it appears that you're as disappointing as the crippled princess and the vegetable."

"Vegetable?" I asked.

"Yes..." she said, grinning.

Sarah's eyes widened.

"It's best you leave," Mama said, stepping forward.

She smiled at my aunt. "And if I don't? What will you do to me? You might be a Rios, but it's obvious you're weak yourself, producing a child like him."

A slap echoed across the park. "You can insult me, but I won't allow you to insult my family. Now, leave before I kill you myself," she said, gripping Aida's neck and raising her up.

"A-auntie's violent," Serein said.

"And I thought she was docile!" Raul exclaimed.

"Even we nice ones have our breaking point, and this one has reached that point," Mama said, diving her long purple nails into Aida's skin.

Aida attacked Mama but the vines dissolves into butterflies.

"Woah," Kun and I said, eyes wide. We had never seen Mama use her magic for battle...

"W-what kind of magic is this? Illusions?"

Mama threw her into the ground. "It's one you don't wish to mess with," she said, her glowing eyes glaring at the teenager.

Aida gasped for air. "Y-you'll regret this! I'll break your child-" Her head hit the ground with a thud. Her knees had given in and her eyes had turned dull.

"I warned you," Mama said.

"Wow, I'm impressed," aunt Ocarina said as she held a frightened Serein. "Though you scared the kids."

"I'll never make Mommy mad," Shandian said, hiding behind Papa.

"I'll make sure to wake up on time and do my chores," I said, averting my gaze.

"M-me too," Kun said.

Mama laughed. "Sorry, kids. This is why I hate using it. It's a frightening power..."

I gasped. "Wait, d-do you think I have it too?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, Koukyuu said I had another power other than wind and lightning. Could it be that power of yours? Yen did get sound magic from both of you."

Mama grimace. "I-if you did then it's best to keep it a secret. This kind of power tends to bring misfortune to its wielders. People not all that different from Aida will attempt to extract it."

Kun lowered his head.

Perhaps it was for the best... then again, I already had people coming after me for the abysmal within my body. What more was another reason? At least I would be able to defend myself easier by learning how to make use of all the powers at my disposal. That included learning how to use my newly obtained abysmal powers.

"Uh... Sarah says thanks for wiping floor with Aida," Serein said, holding Sarah's hand.

"It was a pleasure to see," Nyima said, smiling.

"Y-you should enjoy the memory of it while you can," Aida said, pushing herself up. "We won't... lose. We'll annihilate you. One day all of the world will be under the glorious leadership of H.E.H."

"Glorious?" Kun asked. "More like trashy! Your so called 'glory' is built on looking down on those you deem inferior. If you were in control, I'm sure you wouldn't hesitate to eliminate them."

Aida smiled as she turned away. "Indeed. The world has no use for such weaklings. Though I do take back what I said about your mother. Sadly, she's wasting her powers."

"If you experienced what I did, then you would avoid using them too..." Mama said, keeping her head down. "You're no different from those terrors of the past."

Aida scoffed. "You're just a coward afraid of her own powers. In that aspect you are weak."

"Walk away or I'll take a turn at whacking you!" Ocarina yelled, glaring at her.

The wood mage chuckled as leaves danced around her. "I would love to spar with you, but I got other things to do."

Auntie scoffed as Aida vanished into the leaves. "Yeah, right, hypocrite you're just running away!"

I stared at Mama who kept her head down. Neither one of my parents spoke much about their past, but I knew that something big had happened. Something that was better off being forgotten.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :). Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?**