*Lei*

"Think this will work?" Yen asked as we patiently waited for Sarah's team to arrive.

"Right now we can only rely on our magic," I said. "Sirius tried predicting where the enemy will appear, now let's hope it's true."

My siblings and Hota were the only ones accompanying me. Everyone else I had spread throughout the forest.

"Hmm, where is the rest of your team?" An asked as he made his way toward us. He was accompanied by all the members of his group.

"We don't need them," Hota said, stepping forward.

"Hota," the masked member of An's group said. She laughed. "Long time no see!"

"Tsk. Don't go acting all friendly with them!" said a white armor-clad young man. "Our task is to eliminate them." He brandished his sword and charged at me.

I smiled and blocked his swords with both my butterfly knives.

"Is that all you got?" I asked, grinning.

"You're underestimating me, wimp?" he asked, glaring at me.

I let out an electrical pulse from my blades, sending him flying back.

"Don't call me that!" I yelled, charging at him.

"Lei, keep formation!" Yen yelled as she deflected one of Ning's energy bullets. The third girl of An's team charged at her while Hota and Yanyu rose to the sky. She let out a grunt as she was pushed back.

"Nice, Guang, Ning! Keep the pressure on them!" my opponent said as he rose to his feet. He smiled at me. "In the meantime, I'll take down this guy!"

I clenched my butterfly swords tightly. First Ayawamat, then Eien, then Shiori, and now this guys... why did people keep on looking down on me?

"Energy Surge!" I yelled, sending sparks of azure and yellow electricity down to my legs. I then covered my butterfly knives in the pink aura from the pink glass-like film on one of the holes.

"Xing, be careful!" An said as he dodged my brother's sword.

"Careful? This kid hasn't shown anything impressive," Xing said, shrugging.

"Oh?" I said as I held my knives against his neck.

"How did you appear behind me?" Ning asked, eyes wide.

I smiled as I slashed his neck slightly. "Ventus Perseco." Next, I charged at An who managed to block my attack with his sword.

"Kun, now!" I yelled.

Kun smiled as he performed the same spell on An.

An screamed as he began to feel his blood start to boil.

"T-that's, how does that kid know... an attack designed for killing?" Xing asked.

I glanced back at him. "It's because I've killed people before, to save a friend."

An backed away from us but soon he fell to the ground.

"H-how did Iah withstand this?" An asked, his hands trembling. He raised his sword and slammed it against the ground, causing chains to appear around him.

"An, don't!" Ning yelled as she turned away from my sister.

"Ning, pay attention!" Guang yelled as she blocked Yen's attempt to slash her down with the same spell Kun and I had used on our opponents.

Ning gulped and shot several rounds of energy beams at us.

I swiftly dodged them all and went straight for her neck.

"Xing, I warned you about taunting Lei! He becomes like a beast when made fun of!" An yelled as he stood in front of me.

"Tsk. He's no different from you in that regard," Xing said as he pushed himself off the ground.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kun said. "Prision de Tierra!" Walls of earth encased Xing in an instant.

"You think this can hold me?" Xing asked, glaring at Kun.

"Guys, it's time to get serious," An said. "Our opponents obviously are if they're willing to use such a spell as Ventus Perseco."

"Alright. Come forth, serpent who shakes the earth!" Xing yelled. Suddenly a giant purple circle with a six-sided star within appeared in the sky. From it appeared a black serpent with purple stripes.

"You dare call upon me after what happened last night?" the serpent asked, glaring at Xing with its big red eyes.

"Of course I do, I'm your master!" Xing exclaimed. "Now do as I say! Get rid of those triplets!"

"A giant serpent, huh? Not like I haven't fought one of those before," I said, grinning as I jumped into the air. I rushed around it and jabbed both butterfly knives against its back. The knives shattered on contact. "N-no..."

I found myself sent flying skyward by the force of my shattered wand. Thankfully, the explosion managed to send the giant serpent falling head first. The scales around where I had aimed were also partially broken.

"Kun, aim for its back!" I yelled as I caught myself in mid-air.

"Got it!" Kun yelled as he tried to shake off An. "I just need to deal with this guy first!"

"On second thought, I'll try to see what I can do!" I yelled.

"I call upon you, bird of the heavens! Come forth, Ying!" An yelled. Suddenly, Ying appeared out of a seal in the sky just like the serpent hand.

"You sure have been asking a lot from me lately," the familiar said as it looked down at An.

"I know. I already said that I'll make it up to you. We can talk about the details later. For now I need you to knock out that boy flying in the sky."

The bird turned to look at me. "Well, that's easy." The oversized avian moves its giant wings lightly, creating a tornado of wind.

I rose my hands in front of me in an effort to shield against the wind as well as to control it.

The serpent suddenly raised its body upwards and opened its giant mouth as I came near.

"Oh no! I'm not going to get eaten by another animal!" I yelled as I sent blades of wind raining down on it.

The beast growled and shook the earth with its mighty tail as its blood began to boil.

"That spell," Ying said as it flew overhead.

I smiled at it and unleashed a couple of razor winds against it.

The bird moved its wings, dispersing the wind blades.

"Tsk."

Beams of light suddenly rained down on the bird.

"Lei, come back!" Kun yelled as he struggled to keep his spell going and fighting An at the same time.

I flew down to my brother and sister.

"Good, now that you're here, let's go back to our original plan," Yen said as she threw one of her crystal dragon knives at An.

Kun's broad sword floated into the air while Yen's thrown knife returned to join with the other one. The two floated over to Kun's sword.

I stared at my hands, there were bits of dust remaining in them. The dust floated upward toward Kun's blade. Wind and lightning as well as a strange light purple aura surrounded the shattered knives.

"What's going on?" An asked as he fell to one knee. "His wand, how is he fixing it?"

"An, I told you not to push yourself," Ning said, running over to him.

"You three, brace yourselves!" Xing yelled as he struggled to break out of his earth imprisonment.

Yen and I each took one of Kun's hands. We closed our eyes which were glowing with green energy. "Lan triplet style: Húdié Fēng!" we yelled in unison, opening our eyes. Floating behind us was a giant butterfly.

"A union spell?" Ning said as she grabbed An and jumped onto Ying as it flew over to them. The bird waved its broad wings, unleashing a gale on us.

Our union attack however moved its wings as well, sending the wind flying in different direction. Whole chunks of forest came trumbling down as the wind tore through their thick trunks.

"It deflected Ying's attack," Ning said, eyes wide.

"Woah! It's stronger than it was when we fought dad!" I yelled, jumping up and down.

Kun chuckled. "Of course it is. All three of us have grown since." He turned to look at Yen. "Mind knocking that bird off of the skies?"

"My pleasure," Yen said as she held a hand out. "Golden Sonic Blade!" A golden hilt appeared in her hands but then it vanished completely. My sister also seemed to vanish.

"What is this?" Guang yelled as she struggled to defend against her invisible opponent.

"She's moving too fast for us!" Ning yelled as she struggled to get her on her gun's scope.

Ying yelled as multiple slashes appeared on its body.

Yen landed next to us. "Now, as one!"

"Go, Heaven Butterfly!" we yelled as one. Our butterfly flew upward toward the bird and waved its wings.

The giant bird struggled to keep itself afloat against the fierce gale and crashed into the unconscious serpent.

"Did we win?" I asked before covering my mouth and nose as clouds of dust rose into the air.

"Nice try," a voice called out. It was that of the lady Hota had fought. She threw Hota to the ground in front of us. "But it ends here you three."

Xing pushed himself up from his earth prison and chuckled. Somehow, it seemed he got the wind out of his system. "You're going to get it now. You failed to take us down while you could."

Rising from the dust was An with Ning and Guang in tow. The familiars were nowhere to be seen.

An grimaced as let out a scream as chains suddenly appeared around him.

"Ning, take care of An. The rest of you, go help the others."

Xing grumbled. "Tsk. I wanted to finish off that punk myself. Oh well, I trust you will get the job done, as always."

Yanyu laughed. "Of course." She gasped as earth covered her feet.

"You three, run..." Hota said in raspy voice. "You're no match... for her."

Kun raised the earth around the lady while Yen rushed at her at supersonic speeds.

"W-what are you doing?"

I snickered. "We won't run! At least I won't. I already ran from Adela. I can't afford to make myself look bad again. Not if I want to be the next Magus Maximus!"

Yanyu held out a hand and formed a barrier around herself.

Yen screamed as she was thrown back. Her body was covered in gashes.

"Yen!" Kun and I yelled.

"You should've heeded Hota's warning," Yanyu said. "Now hand over your gems."

I kept my eyes on my unconscious sister and watched as our union spell disintegrated.

I reached my hands out and recalled my reconstructed butterfly knives.

I needed to think of what to do. This girl's barriers were like those of the guy who had hurt Alto. If I weren't careful, I would end up just like him and Yen.

"Lei, you know what we must do, right?" Kun asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded. "Yeah, but how do we do it?"

Kun chuckled. "Not sure either, we just have to."

Yanyu narrowed her eyes at us. "Didn't Hota tell you?"

My big brother smiled. "You think he did? His brother hates us. Why would he help us three?"

"Because you're his teammates."

"Pssh. Like that's enough to convince those bone-headed brothers to work with us. If Hota had told us, then my sister wouldn't be laying on the ground next to you," Kun said as he grabbed his giant broadsword and swung in front of him. "Anyway, enough talking. Come, we'll allow you to make the first move!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :3. Thoughts? Predictions?**