Chapter 74
(Zaikel's POV)
It's fine... he'll be back soon.
(Valin's POV)
I resurfaced behind the kind just as he slashed through one of Cera's clones with a clear crystal longsword. The clone exploded, freezing his arm and another clone jumped onto him, changing into ice on impact. This only slowed Vetro down for a split second but it was enough for me to pin him down with gravity.
"Stop!" He demanded, but I refused, so he tried standing up regardless, only to be thrown back down hard onto the floor, then he sank deeper into the ground to try to tunnel away, but I increased the gravity the deeper he dug until he was down in a 6-foot pit of our creation. I jumped down into the hole with him and whipped out a blade of my own.
"Hi Dad," I said with a smile, which seemed to disturb him as he shakily got onto his feet. He's taking too much damage to be a clone... he must have traded places with the one fighting Zai... "Get up, it's time for your appointment," I said with my blade pointed toward his head. He wiped his mouth and picked up his weapon.
"What the f*ck are you talking about?" I closed the short distance between us, swinging my blade at him, he guarded with his sword but the pressure of my hit sent him crashing into the side of the pit. I took this chance to redirect my sword straight into his gut, Vetro tried to scream but blood filled his mouth, I must have pierced his lung on accident... Oops. He used his power to assault me with crystal spears, stone spikes, boulders, whatever he could create in his panicked state but everything was either deflected away by my reverse gravity barrier or disintegrated on contact with my body. I twisted the sword 180 degrees before yanking it out forcefully and saying,
"Your appointment with pain... for torturing me... my brothers... for this dumbass war you refuse to end." With each pause in my sentence, I stabbed him again in a different spot, and then I stopped and sent him through the ground, forcing him into a tunnel that dropped him back in the throne room. It would be unfortunate if I accidentally killed him...
(Insinz's POV)
"He's back." I said to Zai, who took that note to evacuate the area with Raijian. I let Vetro's wounds heal, some closed making knotted scars, showing me just how rough Valin had been with him before sending him back... I can see why Vetro didn't want to face him.
"What are you waiting for?" He said after catching his breath and sitting up, he looked disheveled. 2 weeks straight with no rest, fighting my clones, a close battle with Zai, and Valin...
"I've been putting off... fighting you face to face like this," I said, covering my fists with black gauntlets. Vetro laughed,
"You... this whole time you were repressing your powers... you fooled me... how did I not notice?" I tapped my chin at his question and said,
"It must be because you're too full of yourself to pay any attention to me... Now let's fight... I'll be your last opponent." His eyes went to Tana and they looked sad as if he was a moment away from crying,
"Is this what you wanted? To see me in this pitiful shape so that you could run off with this bastard?" Tana took a deep breath and looked into his eyes to reply,
"That's not the reason! You used and took advantage of me for centuries! You used me as a placeholder for Mom and you never cared about how I felt! So yes! I love you seeing you hurting and groveling! I've run out of pity for you a long time ago." Her words drove him to actually start crying so I rolled my eyes, and let him whimper... this works in my favor. The more time that passes, the better.
(Snowe's POV)
Meanwhile...
Once the nearby soldiers were cleared out Tana led me to the Infaniyan communication center, as I had requested. Markis loved to fight but Tana was quite formidable against the ones who refused to leave quietly. I felt a bit nervous but... I also think this is the best way I can assist Zai's future right now. A woman named Cynthea answered, she looked surprised in her holographic form to see me, and Markis.
"You called me twice in one year and you even brought friends this time!" She declared. Tana nudged me, as my cue to speak.
"Hello, my name is Snowe... I'm an Infaniyan like you." She gasped,
"Were you abducted?!" I shook my head no, "... Are you lost perhaps?" I tried not to laugh at this question, she has to be joking but this is a serious moment.
"I... am aiding in a rebellion against the king." Cynthea pressed her lips into a hardline as I continued, "I am... acquainted with the Southern Prince... could you help me get an audience with him?"
"Tana?" She replied, looking at the woman next to me. Tana sighed and said,
"This is one step towards a peaceful future... if you could help us... we can end this war soon." Cynthea sighed and then answered me,
"I'll try." Before abruptly hanging up the phone. It was 30 minutes later when she called back, much sooner than I was prepared for. "The guards attempted to send me away but when I mentioned your name, the second prince and king immediately allowed my audience..." After she said this Smoke slid into view, his eyes squinted slightly as he smiled.
"Hey, Snowe." It's been so long since I've seen him, I'm glad he still thinks of me positively. I explained everything, only leaving out the fact that Zai is an Afarion, in case things went in a bad direction. He sat quietly and listened, and then his brother, Serco the King spoke,
"And what do you need from us?"
"This... war has been going on long enough. I wish to request assistance in suppressing supporters of Afaria's King and access to your power-limiting technology so he can be locked away. I believe we can defeat him, but if he dies, this planet dies with him so..."
"I understand." He said, cutting me off. I then saw his wife in the background, they whispered something to each other. Afterward, she spoke.
"We'll help you... Jey is in this fight, correct and you said the King is his father... I know him and once thought of him as... a friend. I also want peace, between our worlds and with him as well." My heart leaped for joy.
"Thank you for this, this fight has been going on for far too long, we've both lost so much." Her voice cracked as she spoke so I could tell she was holding back tears. The queen smiled and said,
"I agree." It's amazing... I had no idea RJ met the Queen of the Southern Quarter! I'm glad he didn't make her into his enemy. They must have kept things completely platonic in that case. A few hours passed and Tana opened the gate to Infaniya. This portal is usually only used for brief diplomatic transactions, but we're using it to welcome an Infaniyan army onto enemy ground. I couldn't count how many people trailed in after Smoke and Serco. Smoke hugged me first, next in line was his fiancee Crescent (which felt weird as heck), Serco gave me a fist bump and his wife waved keeping her distance, but delivering a smile. I bowed to Serco and his wife and said,
"Welcome your Majesties... your help on this matter is greatly appreciated." A young child popped out from behind Serco so I gasped saying, "You brought your son along?!" He glared at me,
"He's not my son." His wife intervened and said,
"This is the Chosen of Lightning from our world... he is recently awakened and should have no issues helping in this fight." I looked at Smoke who avoided my eyes. There was no need for me to protect Zai's identity... Smoke already knows who he is. Convincing the remaining armies to surrender was much easier with such a crowd and any who resisted or declared their unwavering allegiance to Vetro were culled.
(Insinz's POV)
I fought Vetro off, being sure to guard Tana's dupe. After 45 minutes of self-pity, he was charging at me full of aggression. Each time I parried his sword, I felt his rage, hatred, and envy. I loved it. He deserves it. I wish I could make him feel worse. My acid sword sliced through any weapon he could make but his skin was coated in a protective layer. So my acid seemed to only wash over him harmlessly, again, again and again. Until, finally, the cracks in his skin formed; the moment I was waiting for happened. The whites of his eyes turned blood red, and the air in the room grew thin. I squatted down in front of him as he heaved for air. Raijian had been slowly burning up all the oxygen in the room, hidden behind a false wall, an illusion I made with smoke. Fire Chosen don't need to breathe oxygen to survive and I also thrive in toxic environments, the only one suffering here is Vetro.
"Thank you Raijian... can you leave us alone now?" I requested, Raijian responded by kicking his father 3 times in the gut, before yelling out to Zai to move him through the floor. Zai complied immediately, so I got my quality time with Vetro, just as I wished.