*Adela*

Renshu, Ona, Chao, Xi, my brother, and I jumped from branch to branch of mangrove trees. Below laid a thick, black swamp. Occasionally, there were bubbles the size of basketballs which would form on the surface and pop.

"You okay, Chao?" I asked, glancing up at the highest branches.

"Yeah, they aren't as loud here." His narrowed his eyes.

"What's wrong? See something?" Renshu called out.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's a squad of Wahkanians."

"Is Lei one of them?" I blurted out.

"You mean the triplet with asthma? No, he isn't. But that girl, Nyima, is. Her group is engaged in battle with two of the Hierachians."

The dark waters shifted. It had to be Nyima's doing.

"Want to go help them out?" Ona asked as he drew closer to where the water was moving.

"Yeah. The Wahkanians might be our opponents, but they're still my friends," I said, levitating into the air. "But you five go and find the mirror pieces."

"Actually, Wahkan seems to have one," Chao said.

"Hmm, now there's a dilemma," Elliot said, sighing. "What do we do, little sis?"

I bit my lip. "We'll need to snatch it after we're done saving them. Stay close to me, everyone!"

My brother grinned. "Finally, a chance to battle."

"Be careful," I said, dashing through the air. "One of them might be the psychic."

He snickered. "Oh, I know how to deal with them. Remember, my best bud is one."

"Not to sound rude, sir Elliot, but is your friend strong"

My brother tilted his head and grinned. "I would say so, more so when he's serious. He tend to be lazy at times. Now, when is serious then he's among the scariest people I've seen."

"As scary as you?" Renshu asked, eyes wide.

"Hmm, I don't really know how I look when mad," he said, lowering his eyes. "I can barely recall what happens in those moments of pure rage..."

I bit my lip. Nor could I. The rage, born from seeing our parents die before our eyes without being able to help them.

A hand touched my shoulder. Elliot smiled slightly. "Sis, it's best to forget. We've lived with those memories long enough."

Forgetting... like I told Boukyaku before, it wasn't easy. It was rather ironic, but out of all the people I'd met, no one understood that better than Mayu.

The nightmares and visions of a future in which Lei and the rest of my friends are gone only made it worse. Having seen Sarah on the brink of death and An fighting for his life made that future feel more tangible than before.

"We need to hurry," I said, speeding up. The Hierachians could bring about that dark future today.

***

The further north we went, the more tiny islands there were. On one of those islands were Zelde, Wanikiya, and Nahimana. All three launched arrows of fire, ice, and light respectively at a woman in the black body suit.

Raising her hand, the Hierachian destroyed all three arrow before they could get within a foot of touching her.

"Weak," she said, holding her hand out.

Wanikiya gritted her teeth upon hearing that word. "Don't call me weak!" he yelled, flinging his hands forward. Two streaks of ice spikes appeared on the ground, rushing toward the woman.

With a flicker of her fingers, the ice shattered into glistening particles. "It hurts, but it's the truth. I can tell that you hover a power greater than this, but refuse to use it. Are you afraid of it? Of your own power."

I gasped. Those words... they reminded me of what Kagu said... I was afraid of my own fire.

"I...I..." Wanikiya said, looking down at the loamy soil. "I'm not..."

"If you aren't then use it, or I can force it out," she said, closing her hand.

Wanikiya gasped and took a step back.

"Don't worry, my prince," Nahimana said, stepping in front of him. A barrier of darkness formed over herself and her fellow future tribal leaders. The psychic attack failed to bend the darkness.

"Tsk."

Nahimana chuckled as tendrils of darkness emerged from the barrier, striking the Hiearchian. "You're not used to fighting dark mages, are you?" she yelled.

The woman's fingers clenched into a fist. "I didn't expect to meet a mage who could use both darkness and light..." She pulled her arms back, tearing the tendrils with sheer force.

She shook as if shivers had ran down her spine. The space around the woman warped and out came a giant black dragon which opened its mouth.

"So that's what the space mage was up to," she said, trying to avoid it. The thing's tail appeared out of portal and grabbed her swallowed her whole.

"Woah," my brother said. "Was she just..."

"I think so," Renshu said, looking behind him.

"It's a space spell, Aster Draco Maxima," I said. "Currently she was taken to another dimension."

"How handy!"

"Yeah."

My eyes shifted to Nyima who was fighting the white-haired Hierarchian. He kept absorbing her water magic and deflecting her light magic back at her.

She grumbled as her opponent rushed at her. With her arms raised over her upper body, she took the attack head on. She winced as the force sent her flying into the murky waters. The waters danced around her as she came within an inch of touching them.

"Water won't save you," he said, raising the dark waters around her.

"Perhaps not, but I will!" Elliot yelled, flinging himself forward.

A barrier raised over the young man but he was sent flying forward as Elliot struck his back.

"So fast," Nyima said, raising up.

"My brother is amazing," I said, grinning. "He's our true ace."

"So he's stronger than you?"

"Yeah. His powers have only amplified more since he went to that foreign, now ruined world."

"A ruined world?" I asked, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"It's a long story. It would be best if he tells it," I said. I extended my hand out. "In return for saving you, hand over the piece of mirror in your possession."

"I'm not giving this up!" she said, holding the piece of mirror in her hands tightly.

"Hmph. Then we'll need to take it by force," I said, grinning. An arrow of ice flung past me. "Nice try, Wanikiya. Though don't worry, our battle can wait. I have a feeling that our friends might be in trouble."

She nodded. "Same here."

Nahimana turned her eyes northward. "As do I."

"I knew we shouldn't have split up," Wanikiya said, grumbling.

"They'll be fine."

*Boom*

A cloud of dust rose from Mt. Rios' northern flank.

"What's going on?" Renshu asked.

"Let's go check it out," Ona said, going on ahead.

"Aida," the guy fighting my brother said. He spun around and kicked my brother away before rushing off to Mt. Rios.

"Follow him!" Elliot yelled, rubbing his side.

"If Aida is involved then the triplets, Yuzuki, and Hikaru must be in danger," Wanikiya said, gasping for air.

"Relax, they're agile. Plus Yuzuki can get them out of a pinch while Hikaru can buy them time if they need some," Zelde said, patting him on his shoulder.

He raised his head at the mountain. "True, but... I can't shake off this feeling..."

Nor could I... Hopefully it was just our anxiety speaking.

Dear Goddess, please protect Lei and the others. Don't let any further ill come before them. Please, your humble servant begs you.

*Snap*

We glanced at the spot where the Hierarchian girl had been devoured by Stella's dragon. There were cracks on the space as if it were part of a mirror.

"She's escaping," Nyima said, gasping. She gathered the water around her. "Adela, go on and help Lei and the others. We'll handle her."

"No, leave her to me," Nahimana said, gathering darkness around her. "I can take her on. She'll pay for trying to kidnap Rys and insulting my liege."

"Wait, I'll-" Wanikiya began.

"No. Zelde and you are the best ones to take down Aida. Burn her plants or freeze them if you must."

I gulped. "Go for freezing," I said.

"Adela, it might be best for you to stay here," Zelde said, glancing back at the mountain. "We'll aid Lei and the others."

I took a deep breath. I wanted to help Lei, but the prospect of flames... especially in a forest... it terrified me.

"It'll stay too," Elliot said, grinning.

"I'll go see that your friends are safe, dear lady," Chao said, bowing before dashing off to the mountain.

"No, I'm going," I said, closing my eyes. Lei, he saved me once without caring about the risk to himself, and that was when he was a kid. I, as a teenager, should be able to do the same for him.

"You're sure?" Nyima asked. "You reacted pretty badly to Hiro's flames."

I clenched my golden fish-shaped necklace. "I will do my best. If it means to save Lei then I'm willing to brave even the hottest of flames."

Elliot chuckled. "Your love for him burns brighter than any flame, sis!"

My face reddened. "T-that was so corny, Elliot!"

He snickered. "Yeah, I guess it was."

*Snap*

We gasped as the cracks in the fabric of space widened.

"Master, are you okay in there?" Nyima asked. The water from earlier continued to float around her.

"Nyima, unleash your attack on the cracks!" Stella yelled.

My blue-haired classmate nodded, striking the cracks in space with the full blunt of her murky water wave.

Space warped and out of it came Stella with the Hiearchian girl in tow. The black mask had shattered, revealing the face of a girl our age with long black hair.

Stella collapsed into the moist soil of the island we were on, dropping the Hiearchian.

"You did it! I knew you were strong when I first met you!" Nyima said, smiling.

The raspberry-haired woman smirked. "Yeah, but barely. If not for you, she would've gotten out before I could finish her off." She winced. "I hope that Sirius and the others are fine."

"I have a feeling that he and the others are heading toward Mt. Rios too," Nahimana said, turning her eyes toward the mountain.

"Probably," Stella said. She struggled to keep her eyes open.

"You should rest, at least until we get there," Nyima said. She formed a bubble of clear water for her.

The woman smiled at her student. "So you knew that I wasn't going to stand down. Glad I got a smart girl like you as the successor of my magic. I'm also sure that my little girl will be fine with you as her teacher."

Nyima blushed. "I'm not that great. I got a long ways to go as a mage."

"We all do," my brother said. "But that's part of the fun! Striving to get stronger with friends, it's like an adventure!"

Everything was like an adventure to my brother.

"Let's not waste any more time," I said, flying away. Oh, Goddess, please keep my friends safe, at least until we can get there to aid them.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :). Only four more numbered parts and the epilogue left to go!**