Split In Two

Hearing a somewhat familiar voice Zilan flinched for a second almost stopping him in his tracks but he ignored it. "Not this time." Focusing on Xilo he picked himself up thanks to Marie's help as he sent a trail of fire that seperated the room cutting off Felli and the other girl leaving Xilo alone on his side. "This should give us a proper little fight." If it wasn't for Marie's idea he honestly would have stopped already but he trusted in her plan. "Regardless of what he did we don't know how he'll act even with Felli with him so testing is needed." If they didn't properly get a grasp on his personality and strength their plan could backfire and they would be the ones ending up dead too potentially, So was it fair, of course not but it needed to be done. Which is also why he hadn't used his weapon yet or much else. He was going easy on Xilo.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Looking at the flame wall that Xilo couldn't even hope to get across normally he turned to the man presumably named Zilan in front of him as he tried to keep his cool.

"Settling something. Isn't that right Terrin."

Shouting at the other side of the wall he heard his friends reply come back to him faintly as he went to work. Watching Zilan talk to the wall of flame Xilo paid close attention as he began to hear sounds of fighting on the other side of the flame wall. "These bastards." He knew he had sensed four of them before but he didn't think they would split them up like this. "Hopefully Felli and Tearia can handle those two on their own, I don't think I'm ever getting through those flames and even If I did these two would follow." Looking at the girl and man in front of him, he didn't know what to do. "If I'm weaker then even just the one..." Shaking that thought off he gripped the Ice daggers in his hand that had formed slower then normal while bits of darkness seeped into them and his skin.

"Leave them out of it then, I'm sure you just want me right?"

"Meh, I could care less about who gets involved but this forces you here right or will you just run away? You seem to be good at that."

"You.."

Out of all the things Xilo wanted to hear right now that was probably the last on the list. Insults never really affected him before but it was hard not to feel affected when it was also something that you're thinking about yourself. "Crying once again just like old times..Though maybe this time is a little different boy." "Shut it." "Then do something about it." Arguing with the voice in his head he took a step forwards towards Zilan instead of back but it wasn't filled with much power. "Good." Looking at the man take the bait Zilan readied himself as another dagger came flying straight at him that he almost missed. Catching it at the last second he grabbed it in his hand and burned it into dust in seconds as Xilo appeared in front of him. "So you've still got some fight in you...Though it doesn't seem like it's much." Watching the man swing his dagger Zilan could tell.

"Pft, You're this weak?"

Barely even moving a muscle he dodged the attack with a slight lean back as his arm swung at his chest. "This is the strength of the man who killed over twenty or so men of the Wolf Weaver Clan? This blade isn't filled with any power just like the user." He had fought thousands of people and seen hundreds of different personalities in fights but this one in front of him was one of the weakest. However it was also the most relatable one he had ever found in a long time. At one point in time Zilan was apparently destined to reach the peak of strength himself. "The new prodigy to bless my Clan." He soared through any of the Astral Keeper Stages and skyrocketed towards the top passing the Tenth Stage before he even reached 20 years old. Everyone loved him and he loved everyone. "Or so I thought." One day when he was basking in the sun enjoying some of the time off he had rarely gotten lately his little brother interrupted his free time wanting something.

Like any other brother he didn't mind it as he listened to his younger brother's request. He was a lot younger than him and unfortunately a lot weaker but he didn't care about that however his little brother was different. He strived to be just as good as him or even better and always wanted to spar with him to improve. So this time was just like all the rest as they travelled together to an open field a little ways away but he didn't mind the trek. He got to spend some quality time with his younger brother and enjoy the peaceful moment before they enjoyed an even more fun fight. "But things don't always go the way we want things to now do they?" Alone in that field their fight started like any other as he made sure his little brother was doing everything right and giving pointers where he could but eventually something started to change as the fight went on.

"He got stronger...and stronger....and stronger." He watched as his brother's strength soared from the Third Stage all the way until the Eleventh Stage just barely passing him in an instant as anger entered his style. "Zalix, what happened to you exactly?" Forced to fight a different person entirely, shock ran through his system as he took a punch to the gut that sent him flying back across the entire field as his body smashed into a tree along with all his bones cracking. "But it wasn't over then." Before he could blink his brother appeared before his eyes with a fire in them he had never seen before as his anger blazed. Taking another punch to the gut he was forced to cough up blood as tears blurred his vision and angry shouts entered his ears of long built up pain. "Now no one will ever tell me to just be like my older brother again." Is the the words he heard as fist after fist pounded into his body as he slowly lost his consciousness.

In that moment he truly thought he was going to die as his vision turned completely dark and the world was cut off from his grasp but not before a large crack entered his ears that sent shivers down his back to this day. After that though he didn't see or feel anything as he lost complete control of his body fainting. He didn't know how long he had passed out for at the time but when he woke up all he felt was pain as some girl he had never seen before was nursing him back to health however there was one thing he noticed. "I lost all my Astral Strength that day." He had gone from the Tenth Stage all the way down to zero as he felt the cracked core in his body fade away. He had entered a hell he never once thought possible.

Once he had recognized that his thoughts froze as he felt the life leave his body. "I had truly lost everything." He didn't even bother ever returning to his family again as the only thought that lingered in him was the feeling of loss. "Maybe I would have just died then and there if not for her." However even with Marie giving him a push on the back the entire time he had felt useless. So he filled that void with everything he could get his hands on that wasn't himself and while it may have taken years to fix he eventually started down the Astral Keeper's path once more but he was still empty and probably was even now but he was getting better. "One day Zilax." Slamming the man into the wall he watched blood come out of his mouth as he sighed.

"What's your name."

Looking up at the man who asked that Xilo slowly winced out his name.

"It's..none of your business."

"Well..you know me and you...are quite similar, Though I suppose I should find out just how truly similar we are."

With that a scream entered Xilo's mind that he wasn't prepared to hear.