Chapter 4: The Shadow

The Shadow Degree didn't know that more Esper-born children were conceived, albeit nine years ago. Blanche herself was Esper-born, just without the powers of her parents. Maybe it was a good thing, as if she had any more similarities with her dad, her mom might of flipped ages ago.

Her mom had complications with her birth, thanks to the stress of her partner dying and just a hard pregnancy in general.

So when she heard that two more Esper-born children were being hidden away by the Union, she didn't know how to react. On one hand, it was understandable that they were hidden away. The Esper Union and the Shadow Degree were at ends with one another, and if they got the kids, they'd have a huge advantage over them.

On the other hand, it appeared these children seemed to have a better life than she. Where she didn't have a dad and had a neglectful mother, they had two loving parents and a rich uncle.

"Blanche? There you are." Lynn came up to her, holding a small sandwich. She took it, thanking her self-proclaimed auntie and nibbling the sandwich.

"Are you still thinking about the news?" Lynn asked softly.

"I just don't get it," Blanche said, "why do those two boys get awesome powers, a living dad, and a loving mom!"

"Hon! Your mother loves you very much."

"Doesn't show it." She bit into her sandwich angrily, biting her tongue in the process.

"Blanche," Lynn said sternly, "your mother has been through a lot, you have to understand-"

"Just...leave me alone."

Lynn paused, then got up reluctantly, leaving Blanche to her thoughts.

She didn't know if these twin's parents were actually loving, but based on what she could see, their parents being the Tang Xuan and Yuuhime, she assumed that they had to be.

It didn't help that Tang Yun had been bitching about it all day.

"How could he do this to me! He didn't even tell me! When I find you, Xuan..."

Yun was her mom's friend, and boy did Blanche hate his guts. He was always so pessimistic, and when he wasn't, he was just plain creepy. But, she couldn't say anything without getting yelled at, so she just kept her mouth shut.

She had halfway finished her sandwich when an annoying voice trickled into the room.

"Branch! Branch! Pa- I mean, Yuvsi brought me to the beach!" This annoying voice belonged to Cricket. She was an Esper, horns sprouting from her head and glassy black eyes. Blanche didn't even mind that she was an Esper, but just the amount of inspiration she took from Yuzhi, her main caretaker, was a headache.

"The beach?" Blanche turned to her, only for her sandwich to be stolen and stuffed into the small Esper's mouth.

"Um huh!" Cricket nodded, giggling. "I saw the Esper-borns first."

"Hey!"

"Haha! I'm better than you!" Cricket sped off.

"Get back here!"

"Eek!"

Blanche easily tackled Cricket, but right in front of Yun.

Yun liked Cricket about as much as Blanche did, but he liked Blanche herself even less. He grabbed her by the collar and glared.

"How dare you think this behavior is ok?" He said. "You're lucky that I'm too busy to punish you."

He dropped her and walked off, just enough time for Cricket to run to "papa Yuzhi" so Blanche couldn't do anything else.

Her attention was whipped elsewhere, though. Yun not having time to punish her was unexpected. Even if he was doing something, he'd go out of his way to make her life miserable after she was bad.

Her curiosity got the best of her and she quickly trailed after him.

***

When he first heard it, he didn't believe it.

"I swear!" Yuzhi had squealed. "The kids looked just like your brother and his sugar mommy!"

Upon more investigation and hacking into the Union database, it was undeniably true.

"This is a huge breakthrough," Hyde had said thoughtfully, "this means Esper-born children can have their powers of their parents, but not always..."

"Perhaps it's the compatibility of their powers?" Fu Shi had suggested.

Xuan! That traitor!

"It's over. Our siblings hate us now. Don't make that face at me, Tang Yun, you know Tang Xuan hates your guts thanks to what you did."

Yamato's words still clung to him like a parasite.

"There's another problem, you can't accept you're in the wrong ever."

But he couldn't be in the wrong...he was right about this...

Xuan, who was Yun's brother, and a most precious one at that, was the dumbest person on the face of the earth.

That's why Yun was right. He needed to save Xuan from himself, else he kill him with his own two hands.

The underground miracle was rising even more, after nearly a decade. Both the Union and the Degree were after the contents, many conflicts arising because of it. The Union seemed to have the upper hand, which was why the Degree was going to sneak-attack them and take over the miracle study site.

This was the perfect opportunity for Yun to get revenge on Xuan and Yuuhime.

"I know that face." Fu Shi snapped at Yun whilst they were packing into the small vans.

"What face?"

"Don't you dare try anything."

And that was that, as far as Yun was concerned. Ever since the days when he worked with Yamato to achieve his ultimate goal of setting his brother straight, Fu Shi didn't trust him. Hyde thankfully gave him a second chance, but any slip up and he was ready to fight the fierce Fu Shi.

***

"This...?" Xuan looked around the entrance to the miracle, which had increased dramatically over the past few years. That wasn't the problem, the problem was the dripping and sticky liquid on the walls.

"The miramon are getting even more restless," Feng Nuxi explained, "they're trying attack anything that moves, and that results in them attacking even  the dust that blows in the wind."

"Don't touch anything!" Sienna ordered. "We don't know what this saliva can do."

Yuuhime stood close to Xuan, her fists clenched. Imagining her Xuan getting hurt, or stuck, or even just frightened made her blood boil.

"Honey..." Xuan whispered, rubbing her back, "...you need to calm down."

Despite everything, Yuuhime was still violent when it came to her family—whether it was defending them or attacking them, in the case of Yamato. It could be a headache, especially when it wasn't anything bad.

"We're going in now." The exploration team headed into the dark depths of the miracle.

Feng Nuxi, Tang Xuan, Yuuhime, and Sienna stayed behind. Although they were unaware of what the other two were doing, Xuan and Yuuhime were guarding them. Farther away from the miracle, even more people guarded, but the security got smaller and smaller the closer they got.

Xuan was too tired to question how well this would work. He kept thinking of Ace and Amon, wondering if Yamato had tried anything. He wanted to run back home and tell Yamato to get lost.

But staying calm was what he needed right now. If he lost his cool, he would be too distracted if any miramon came.

Sienna's communicator went off. Answering it, her eyes widened and she scowled.

"What's wrong?" Feng Nuxi asked.

"The Shadow Degree infiltrated the lab," Sienna said, "and they're coming here next, they shouldn't be bad to stop but we still have to protect the team inside the miracle."

***

Getting past the Espers guarding far ahead of the miracle were a breeze. Once they were actually at the miracle's entrance, only four people stood in their way.

Pleased, Yun was ready to jump down and strangle Xuan to death, and maybe do the same to Yuuhime just for a treat.

On one side, some of his comrades distracted two of them while on the other side, others came in on the other side and distracted the other two. More espers had come to aid of the Union, but the Degree still had the upper hand.

Yun unfortunately had to lag behind for watch duty, but that didn't bother him. He was promised that if Xuan was captured, he could kill him.

Suddenly, the miracle began to crumble. From where he was, Yun saw everyone rushing their battle away from the entrance. His brother's vibrant hair was plain in site.

He couldn't help himself.

***

After the earthquake, Xuan found himself alone. Rubble had blocked him off without his knowledge, and his connection was bugged.

He was tired, sweaty, injured...he just needed to sit down.

He slid onto the ground, rubbing his temples. His throat throbbed, begging for water.

He sat there for a long time. Once his energy was back, he would search for an escape.

After a very long time, he heard someone coming. He tried to see who it was, but was unable to. Standing up, he began to call out.

"Who..."

"Shh."

After a moment, Xuan couldn't move. His senses all but disappeared and he fell into the arms of his brother.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top