Chapter 13: Misfortune

  "Slava, once we arrive, I'll need you to run to the pad. No matter what happens you can not leave it. I'll take care of everything." The world around them was unfurling at unnatural speeds. The cracks spreading from his sister's glowing back were becoming clearer.

  "But…" He was worried. Even though she didn't seem to be in pain, Slava couldn't help but stare at her fissuring skin.

  "Don't worry about me, I will join you once I make sure we can go somewhere safe," she said. Her voice was suiting, but it still didn't calm him down. No matter how strong she was or what she could do, the lightning constantly striking around them couldn't be a coincidence.

  "I…" He was conflicted, he was scared, but he wanted to help. He felt like a burden.

  "There is no 'I' Slava. Promise me!" These words drew him to tears. She had always taught him to keep his word. Despite that, she had never asked for it.

  "I… I promise!" His stuttering was gone and a determined look could be seen on his face as tears dribbled down his cheeks. He didn't know why she asked him this but he knew it was important. The knot in his throat disappeared and his desire to help overtook him. Next time he would be the one to protect her.

  Once they stopped, he decisively dashed towards the pad. When he reached it, he turned around. Contrary to his expectations, what greeted him wasn't his sister's face but a bright flash of light.

  After what felt like an eternity, he regained his sight just in time to see Akasha staring angrily at an unknown figure. The only thing he could make out of this figure was its bright blue eyes which blended almost perfectly with the lightning dancing around it.

   "You dare oppose the Gōnghuì?" Its voice thundered. "This land has been polluted by the Tānlán. All related individuals must be exterminated." The individual's deep voice thundered through the remains of the once-prosperous city. "Polluted my ass. Slava, remember to keep your word." Without any further explanation, she moved her hands towards her hip. Feeling the hostile intent in her actions the floating man reacted swiftly. "You…" without finishing his sentence he clapped his hands. Meanwhile, Akasha was now holding onto what looked like an intricately adorned katana which seemed to have materialized on her hip. In the next moment, the ground around her opponent cracked and arcs of electrical energy mixed with parts of rubble flew from his surroundings towards her. From Slava's perspective, it looked like an enormous wave on its way to swallow them whole. This mesmerizing scene was interrupted when his sister stepped in front of him. Her long scarlet ponytail was now fluttering in the wind and after a slight glance to her rear, she tightly gripped her sword.

  "Don't worry little star Akasha's here" she said in a gentle yet confident voice. "Your sister will protect you."

  When Slava finally recovered from his stupor and blinked, he heard a loud sound. When he reopened his eyes, everything around them was raised to the ground. The frosty sky which was once dark grey was now split into two, letting the light of dawn illuminate her figure.

  Slava's eyes slowly moved from her now freed silky long hair to her hip where the katana used to be. The once majestic weapon was now in a sorry state with cracks spreading all over its surface. Before he had the time to memorize its appearance, it shattered and its pieces faded away leaving nothing behind. The hand which had held the sheathe had suffered a similar fate, but instead of shattering it slowly started to fade.

  "Haha… How can a person this strong not be in the registry…" he heard a voice thunder throughout the sky. "hmm… tell me, what is your domain? And how are you so young?" The voice which came from the cloud of smoke was weak yet determined. Hearing this, Akasha didn't hesitate. Crouching down, she slammed the ground with her faded hand. The hand, which at this point was almost completely transparent, was quickly revitalized. Although, from that moment on, the cracks began spreading further up her skin. At the same time, the cloud quickly dispersed to show the figure of a man with a split torso looking intently at them. Electric arcs were slowly dancing around his wounds as they slowly regenerated and healed.

  "Interesting… I can't figure out your nature and you're beyond my reach," said the man while spreading his arm which was still intact. "Are you one of the Tānlán's experiments?" With a swift motion, he grasped the air in front of him before pointing downwards.

  Almost as if she was waiting for this, Akasha jumped with her cracked arm extended. Simultaneously, rumbling spread throughout the sky while the earth started quaking incessantly.

  Slava, now sitting on the pad, was too baffled to even notice the world crumbling around him. As odd as it seemed, he found the painting in front of him beautiful. In that short moment of stupor, the world seemed to have slowed down. He could vividly see his sister in the sky, reaching toward the lightning that was getting ready to strike her down. On the other hand, her opponent still maintained the same position as the ground appeared to crack below his floating figure.

  As soon as he was able to grasp the whole picture, time started to flow once more. His sister who was about to get hit suddenly grasped the air in front of her before somehow swinging herself around. The lightning bolt, which was originally on a one-way trajectory towards her head, was greeted by Akasha's foot. When they connected, she dragged the bolt with her. Gracefully, the lightning was redirected towards the unmoving figure. Meanwhile, the ground below him finally ruptured making way for a pillar of magma that swallowed him whole. With the lava engulfing him, his outline was once again blurred. However, the strings which were holding him still were revealed. Strangely enough, no matter how long it lasted, his figure didn't fade despite everything else getting vaporized.

  Seeing this, Akasha used the last of her momentum to swipe her hand vertically. Following her movements, the flow stopped, the fissure closing seamlessly. Leaving no gaps, the lightning struck, and with it came the thunder.

  In a cacophony of sound and light, Slava caught a glimpse of his sister's graceful landing. For a second, he thought to have seen a pair of translucent angelic wings helping her glide down. Past her, the clearing was now empty. The charred ground had no trace of the previously imposing man.

  Looking at her now, his sister's skin was cracked all over. Standing up, she said; "It's all right Slava, everything will be… all… right." Her smile was bright but her cracked face and heavy eyes betrayed her expression. She walked towards him slowly but surely.

  "Sis… ter?" he heard himself say with a trembling voice.

  "Shh. It's ok little star, no need for tears. Stay right there." she said, holding her mostly faded hand to her mouth. The hand that was fading suddenly turned black and unimaginable darkness spread from it covering his whole vision.

  "It was you… You were the reason why she died. It was you Vyacheslav!' said an inconspicuous voice. "Nnnn… NO!" screamed Slava. With white light spreading from him, the scenery shifted back. He now stood in front of the man, his eyes glowing white, white lightning pulsing around him. Seeing his opponent, Slava didn't hesitate. Witnessing his approach, the man tried to jump back but a wall appeared to stop him. Before he had a chance to land on his feet, Slava slammed into him with a loud "Bang!". He planned to pierce his arm through his chest, but because of his jump, it went through his stomach instead.

  Hearing a high-pitched groan coming out of the man's mouth, his anger slowly dissipated as realization kicked in. The form of his opponent shifted into that of an exosuit-wearing woman. Her helmet retreated from her face revealing his left-hand wrapping around Despira's throat and his right penetrating her stomach. He could feel them, her insides twisting and turning.

  "Ah" he barely whispered, shocked. Her tattooed hand reached out to him, its glow slowly fading away. Her gaze was full of fear. Despite her gazing right into his eyes, she seemed to be seeing something else, or rather someone else.

  "What's going on?" said Loyd, appearing in the doorway, hair disheveled, in a bathrobe. Seeing the sight before him, his instincts kicked in. Rushing to his wife's side, he tore Slava's hand away from the wound. Still stunned, Slava fell onto the side of his bed, his hand still covered in her insides.

  Loyd hurriedly applied pressure to different spots around the wound and the suit accordingly started closing itself around it. Carrying all the organs back inside.

  "Mortal wound detected! Artificial Bloodflow Established! Stabilizing… Calling for nearest medic deployment…" With these words coming out of the suit, it stiffened around Despira's body, leaving no room for movement.

  "It'll be alright dear, everything will be alright… Why did you…" with a frown on his face, he continued, "Vich, help me get her downstairs." Seeing Slava wasn't responding, he shouted in his booming voice. "Vyacheslav! Snap out of it and help me out!"

  Jolting at the sound of his name, Slava absentmindedly stood up. Together they carried her stiff body across the mansion. When they passed next to Anissa's room, a voice was heard coming from the other side.

  "Dad? What's going on?" said a familiar voice.

  "System activate Anissa protocol. It's alright kiddo wait for me I'll come back for you," he said as the door's locks began turning.

  "Dad what's going on!" she repeated, banging on the door.

  Ignoring her, they continued down the stairs. It took a minute for the medics to arrive and when they did, Slava was absentmindedly staring down at his still bloody hand.

  "Sir, shall we take him away too? Was he injured?" said one of the medics.

  "No need, he's not injured, he was simply the first at the scene." Hearing his words the medic nodded his head and entered the vehicle.

  "The surgery should be done in about one hour. Correspondence will be sent to you. You should be able to visit her then." he said, closing the door behind him.

  Slava couldn't believe what he had just done. He shouldn't have let his guard down. He had thought his nightmares were gone after one night of good sleep. How could he…

  "Vich, listen to me, your mother was involved in a manual override incident. And you were not involved in any way," he said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I won't ask you how you got this strong or what drugs you took. I just want you to remember one thing. No matter how hard it might get, no matter how awful the past might seem, time is like an hourglass, when the sand runs out you have to flip it." Grabbing his face, he forced their eyes to cross. "Sometimes you have to move on. It doesn't mean forgetting, but building on those memories and experiences. Never forget that." Why was he talking as if they would never see each other again? "Now go wash and leave, I'll try explaining this to Anissa. You left last night alright?" To his words, Slava slowly nodded his head. His father hugged him for the first time in a while before bitterly looking at him, and pushing him toward the bathroom.