Chapter 114, The Banquet of Blood

"Will! Play with me!" I beg Will who happily complies to my wish.

"Sure! Up we go!" He carries me on his shoulders and runs through the forest laughing.

I open my eyes and see sunlight streaming through the window of my room. I get up and realize that Will has fallen asleep on the side of my bed. I smile when I recall my dream and gently kiss Will's forehead. My big brother, to me you are irreplaceable family. Everyone in this school has become my family, my friends and people I want to protect. No matter the price I pay, I'll protect the smiles of the people I've met along the way.

"Arata...?" His sleepy yawned and opened his eyes.

"Morning, William." I smiled.

"Morning." He smiled.

"Will? Is Arata awake yet?" Andrew asked as he opened the door to our room.

"Morning Andrew." I smiled but Andrew's face was somewhat worried.

"Is something wron-?" Before I could finish what I was saying, I saw that my hair was dyed white. "How many days was I out?"

"Five." Theo said as he came in. "When you collapsed, you were covered in what looked like vines for some reason."

"Van and Zander said it was a defensive mechanism to protect you from your powers that were unstable." Lia cried as she hugged me. "We were so worried!"

"Did anything strange happen while I was asleep?" I asked.

"There are some things but first someone wants to meet you." Adele said with a gentle smile.

"How are you feeling, Le Fleur?" The woman we saved came into the room dressed in the school uniform. "My name is Sakura Hanamaru."

"Nice to meet you, Sakura, I'll hear more about everything later. Can I please have breakfast first?" I asked with an embarassed face.

"Sure." May smiled.

I try to stand but am unable to, so Adonis carries me to the living area where a feast was set. Looks like they were so sure I would wake up today that they cooked a whole feast.

"Eat up." Leon said patted my head lovingly.

As we all eat, I try to assess the damage done to my body. Motor skills are questionable, my joints seem to just be lacking exercise as I've been asleep for five days, no issue with my senses, but... without a dpubt, I can't use my Vi meaning my abilities are not available as of today. My hair is still white, until the white dies out, I won't be able to use Vi.

After our meal, we get to the point and ask about what happened to Sakura and the Azure Dragon and she tells us.

A few days before we found her, she and the Azure Dragon were travelling the Eastern Shores spreading the beauty of life when they were attacked by two people. A boy and girl, she didn't see their faces but they were very strong. And besides them, there was another person, she was unable to see whether it was a male or female but that person ordered them to eliminate the two. After which, the boy and girl attacked them and trapped them within a barrier, in that barrier they sent out countless monsters and the two barely managed to fend them off when they were attacked by what she could only describe as a large red dragon. After which, the two barely managed to escape when the Azure Dragon used it's power and the two washed up on our shores, with the Azure Dragon dead and her barely alive.

"Speaking of which, what happened to the Azure Dragon?" I asked.

"It's alive. Its been spending its time sleeping under the Perennial Cherry Blossom." Lucas reported. "It said it couldn't transform into its humanoid form as it lacked Vi and has been storing up Vi for a while now."

The robed assailants, a red dragon, a sealed space. As I tried to figure out what it was the Chronicle appeared before our eyes. The pages flipped and we found what it was.

"The Void is a place that is everywhere and nowhere. It exists between the moments of time, between the boundaries of the worlds, which is why it is nowhere and everywhere." I read.

"So that space we were trapped in was the Void?" She asked with a worried tone and I was worried as well.

"The Void... it isn't a place we can go to usually." Van stated. "There are cracks in the spaces of our world but I doubt a person, even one with Arata's powers could break open a crack and lead a person to the Void."

"The Last Artifact, the Key." I answered.

It's highly likely that the enemy has gotten held of the Key and is using it for their own merit. The Key is the artifact that has the power to break down the boundaries of the world. If they have it, they could easily break down the barrier that protects the worlds from the Chimeras.

"This is worrying... Arata, we should try to track this person down." Zander said.

"I'll contact my Dad. I'm sure he can help." Andrew said. "Like help spread the word of a wanted criminals."

"I'll contact Monica as well." Ethan said.

They have the Key, could they also be the ones behind the Gems of Sin. If so, it's better if I handle them on my own. However, with no way of finding them, I can't just go and search for them blindly. There are many questions I need answers to. Why they are doing what they're doing. Who are they. What do they want. And why did they attack the Azure Dragon.

"I'm not sure if it will help but I overheard them say something about the Banquet of Blood." She said and my glass nearly shatters to the ground if it wasn't for my petals. "Would you happen to know what that is?"

The Banquet of Blood... they can't be doing what I think they're doing. The Banquet of Blood also known as the Tragedy of Blood.