9 Colliding Forces

There stood the two combatants on their mental plane, which they had made. It was an endless expanse of dirt for as far as the eye could see. They stood equal distance apart and looked around at their surroundings.

"It's been a while since we've been in here, Tenacity."

He looked over at his cousin for a response.

"It has. I've missed this place."

"I'll give you the first hit then," said Solis

"No no, you first. You're the older one."

Solis gave him a laugh, "You're so generous. I'll take that offer then."

Solis backed up a little further and started stretching. Tenacity saw what Solis was doing and he started to stretch too.

Solis hopped a few times and looked over at Tenacity.

"Let it be known that this is a warm-up round, alright? If anything happens, it's because I wasn't warmed up, or I was just going easy."

"Same goes for you, Solis."

They gave each other a toothy smile.

They both slowly crouched down and then charged at one another. Their hands intertwined as their collision caused a shockwave to ripple throughout the space.

"Not bad so far, Tenacity," he told his cousin as they struggled with one another.

"We just started idiot."

Tenacity broke away from their clash and jumped back. He ran a circle around Solis and then ran at him.

Solis punched at his head but missed as Tenacity slide down and thrust his elbow into his gut. Tenacity then took Solis's arm and tossed him away. Solis dug his hands into the dirt to slow himself down and reposition himself. He looked up and saw Tenacity's fist inches away from his face. The blow found Solis on the ground again where Tenacity continued pummeling him.

Tenacity kicked his cousin in the gut and launched him into the air. He jumped up toward him and tried grabbing his leg. Solis reoriented himself fast enough to intercept Tenacity's hand. He spun around and sent him crashing into the ground with a loud boom. Solis torpedoed back down and built up some of his Essence. He cocked his giant hand out, which he created with Essence, and brought it down. He felt contact but he knew it wasn't a successful hit.

"Glad you caught on."

Solis smiled as he planted his feet back on the earth.

"That was foul, you didn't give me any warning," Tenacity said as he came out from the hole.

He brushed himself off before he looked back at his cousin. Tenacity had gathered his Essence and made it into his signature armor.

There wasn't much 'armor' protecting Tenacity, which was also wispy and transparent. He had on gauntlets that had tiny spines that ran across the top of it. His greaves came up to his knees and went up to a point and had tiny spikes on the shin. He also had shoulder pads that were smooth.

Solis threw his giant fist at him but was kicked aside by Tenacity. Even though their Essence was a weapon made from their soul, it could be affected by physical means and because of this, Tenacity's attack threw Solis off-balance. Tenacity closed the distance and tried to slam Solis into the ground. Solis withdrew his fist and conjured another one that punched the ground beneath him and launched him upward.

Solis flipped over his cousin as he swung and retaliated by kicking his back. Tenacity flew forwards and crashed into the ground. Solis extended his giant hand and picked up Tenacity. He threw his cousin away like a ragdoll. He watched as his body flew across the plane and come to a stop.

Tenacity stood back up and shouted at Solis, "Let's get serious then!"

"Yeah, let's get serious."

Just then, the two of them felt two new presences.

"Hey, who was that?" Tenacity asked.

Solis gave him a shrug and both of them looked around to find out who it was.

Solis saw two people, one stood up while the other was on their knees, and ran toward them. As he got closer, he recognized who they were.

"Oh, Lunis? I'm surprised you're here. You brought Elise with you too."

"Yeah, she was wondering what you guys were doing just sitting down, so I decided to show her."

On the ground, Elise was dazed and mumbling.

"W-where are we?!"

Solis looked down at her and said, "This is our mental plane. A space that can be created by two beings of our race. We use it to train."

"S-so, we're in your head?!"

"Not just mine, it's also Tenacity's. We open up our minds to one another and make this space using our consciousness. You could say that we imagined this place into existence."

Earlier, Elise had wondered where Solis and Tenacity had gone. Lunis knew what they were doing so she decided to take her to them. When they found them on top of the mesa, Elise was confused as to why they were both sitting down with their eyes closed. Lunis explained to her what they were doing but Elise was still confused at the end of it. Lunis decided just to show her and dragged her consciousness into their mental plane. She was able to do this because one of their race's abilities was one where they could manipulate other people's consciousness.

She was also able to enter the mental plane because her mind had a wavelength that Solis and Tenacity recognized. Normally, this wouldn't happen for strangers since it's usually blocked by a mental wall put up by the users but in Elise's case, their consciousness saw her as a guest since Lunis brought her in.

Back inside their mental plane, Elise had more questions to ask Solis.

"So, you and Tenacity are training right now?"

"Yeah, call it a reunion fight if you will. We were about to get a little more serious too, so stay and watch, if you want."

Solis ran back over to Tenacity and apologized. As they did, Lunis whispered something into Elise's ear.

"Watch closely, Elise, you should know how lucky you are to be here."

"What do you mean?"

"You know the stories about Solis, right?"

"Yeah, I was told some of them when I was younger but wasn't told the extent of his power."

"Tenacity?" Lunis asked.

"Ahh, no, I don't recall my family telling me anything about him."

"Even though he's one of the strongest fighters, along with Solis, in the Arcanas?"

"I didn't know that either, so definitely no."

"Well he is, so seeing them fight should be fun."

"Well, then how strong are they?

"Beautiful..."

Confused by the one-word response, Elise asked, "What? What's that mean?"

"That's the best way I could describe their strength. Beautiful. Pure power, the strength to lay waste to anything in your path, and these two have that beauty."

Elise saw Lunis's eyes shine in admiration as she observed the two fighters. Elise looked at them too and saw them in a different light.

Without looking over, Elise asked Lunis, "How strong are you compared to them then?"

Lunis scoffed, "My strength couldn't hold a candle to theirs."

Elise was taken aback so she didn't ask her anything else and prepared herself for the show.

"Let's resume, Solis."

"You don't need to tell me twice."

Solis punched Tenacity in his gut and blew him away.

"That was cheap. I'll get you for that," he said as he stood back up.

Solis held his stomach as he laughed and paid no attention to Tenacity.

Tenacity was the first to use semi transformation. It was a step above partial transformation and had more drastic changes. He grew to a massive seven feet, in height, and now had protrusions running down his back. The skin on his forearms changed into a different, harder material and this happened with his calves as well. His hair grew longer and now had black tips.

He leaped toward Solis and tried punching, but Solis caught his hand and tossed him aside.

"You'll get your chance if you can beat me of course," Solis taunted.

Solis used semi transformation as well and the same changes happened to him, but instead of black tips at the end of his hair, it was gold.

They walked toward each other, slowly closing the distance between them. They were inches away from each other as Solis tried to knee Tenacity. Tenacity caught his leg and proceeded to twirl Solis around. As he tossed him away, Solis used his giant hand to grab and swing Tenacity into the ground. Solis flipped in the air only to land softly back on his feet.

The ground beneath Solis gave way and he was dragged into it. Turns out, Tenacity had burrowed beneath him after Solis smashed him into the ground. Now waist-deep into the ground, Solis was stuck and unable to move. Tenacity sprung out of the earth and took hold of Solis's head. He dragged him up out of the ground and punched his gut.

"See? I got you back."

Tenacity gave his cousin an arrogant smile.

"Keep talking."

Solis tucked his knees in and kicked Tenacity's chest, which released him from his grip. As Tenacity stumbled backward, Solis punched him square in the face with his left hand. Another shockwave traveled through space as Tenacity flew. Tenacity back-flipped and dug his hand into the ground.

"Rgggggh! This is personal now, Solis! Screw our reunion, I'd rather beat your face in!"

"Come try!"

Solis put his right leg forward and brought his hands back to stabilize himself. He opened his mouth and started gathering energy that formed into a bright, yellow ball.

Tenacity was on all fours as he planted his fists into the ground and braced himself with his legs. He opened his mouth as a smokey, black ball formed.

"Tenacity and Solis are mad now!" Lunis said in a panic.

"Wait, is that bad? What's happening?!"

"No time to explain!"

Lunis slung Elise over her shoulder and jumped far away from the two fighters.

"ARRRGGHH!"

"RAAAAGGH!"

A loud scream came from the two as they both shot a ray of energy at each other. Solis's beam scorched the earth as it traveled across the distance. Tenacity's beam was like death as it caused the imaginary plants to wither away as it flew. The two colliding forces met each other and sent out a powerful shockwave that toppled even Lunis and Elise, who were a great distance away. The resulting clash of the two beams made a massive explosion accompanied by an equally massive plume of smoke.

"Grrggh, give up!" Tenacity screamed at Solis.

"You first."

The two went at each other and their fists clashed again. With each blow they traded, a wave of pressurized air came out from the ends of their fists. As they fought, it looked like a living natural disaster. The grass swayed back and forth as their blows continued landing. They punched each other simultaneously and sent each other flying in opposite directions.

"I'll finish you right here!" Solis yelled.

"Get ready to perish!" Tenacity shouted back.

From afar, Elise watched as Solis and Tenacity let out a roar before their silhouettes changed into shapes she couldn't recognize. It kept growing and growing until it was as big as a 10-story building. When they stopped growing, they both looked like giant, bipedal monsters.

One of the giant figures, which was Solis, went on all fours and opened his toothy mouth. A colossal ball of energy formed. Tenacity mirrored Solis's actions and charged up his ball as well.

Heatwaves exuded from Solis's ball as he charged it, turning the earth beneath him to ashes. Tenacity's ball of death grew as well and continued killing the life around it.

Lunis took Elise again and ran even farther away from them so much so that they looked extremely tiny in the distance.

Solis and Tenacity released their balls of energy. A thunderous noise rang throughout as their devastating beams traveled across the plane. Arcs of yellow electricity trailed Solis's beam while pure, black arcs of electricity trailed Tenacity's. They collided with a deafening boom. An even bigger explosion followed and multiple shockwaves.

Solis jumped into the air and onto Tenacity. He swung a giant hand at Tenacity's head. Tenacity dodged the attack and kicked Solis off of him. Tenacity quickly got up and jumped back. Solis recovered and shot a small ball of energy at Tenacity's feet.

Dirt flew up at Tenacity, who reacted by covering his face. Solis appeared on his left and threw a punch at him. Solis's punch was knocked into the ground as Tenacity redirected it. Tenacity counterattacked and kicked Solis's side and sent him flying.

Solis came to a stop after flying a few hundred yards away from Tenacity. He opened up his mouth and shot out multiple balls of energy. They all flew at Tenacity as he continued to dodge them. The last ball of energy blocked Tenacity's view of Solis. He batted the ball away, which blew up behind him, and he looked back at Solis.

Solis let out a super-heated laser beam at Tenacity's feet. Explosions trailed as Solis dragged the laser across the terrain. Smoke clouded the air as Solis ended his attack. Tenacity charged through the smoke and at Solis. He tried to tackle him but failed as Solis jumped out of the way.

Solis grabbed Tenacity's ankles and slammed him to the ground. He straddled Tenacity and pinned down his arms. He opened his mouth and made another ball of energy.

Tenacity roared at Solis and made his own ball of energy. Solis lowered his head so that the two spheres touched. Solis pushed further down onto Tenacity which snuffed out his energy sphere. With a giant explosion, he blew off his cousin's head and left his limp body beneath him. Solis stood over his corpse and let out a triumphant roar toward the black abyss above them.

As Elise watched the shocking conclusion of their fight, she yelled at Lunis, "L-Lunis! He killed Tenacity!!"

Lunis saw Elise panic but remained calm.

"Don't you understand what happened?!"

"Relax," Lunis said, "He just killed his mental self."

"W-what?" Elise stood confused.

"What I mean is, Solis, destroyed the imagination of Tenacity. He didn't actually die, it was only his imaginary self. By now, Tenacity should be awake again in the real world."

"Ahhh, it's already happening," Lunis said ominously.

"What is?"

Lunis pointed around them as the mental plane started to collapse. Now that one of the users who helped make that space vanished, the mental plane could not sustain itself without two minds. This meant that every occupant there had to leave, or else their consciousness would be swallowed up.

"Let's take our leave."

Lunis took Elise's hand as they started to fade.

Elise opened her eyes to see that she was back on the plateau and that Tenacity was violently choking Solis.

"Damn, you, Solis! That was cheap!! That's how you fight me after seventeen years?!"

Solis kicked Tenacity off and rubbed his neck.

"It doesn't matter. What happened, happened. It just so happens that I won and you didn't."

Solis laughed while Tenacity looked at him with a spiteful look.

Elise saw how different Solis acted with his cousin compared to how he usually was. He had a genuine smile on his face she hadn't seen before and it warmed her heart.

"He would look better if he smiled like this more often," she thought to herself.

Solis looked at her but she turned away.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Solis moving.

"Alright, I'm heading back now. I want to sleep a little before we go out for dinner."

"Go out?" Tenacity questioned, "no need, I have plenty of ingredients for you to cook with, Solis."

"Is that so? Anyways, I want to nap regardless."

He hopped off the mesa and ran toward the house. Lunis and Tenacity followed him and started running as well. Elise was the last one to leave as she used some of her magic to float down, since she was exactly as durable as them and could die from that height, and used some more magic to make her faster.

It took her a minute more than them to reach the house but when she did, she had heard them discussing again.

"Actually, you know what? I'll take a shower first."

"Go ahead. You can leave your clothes in the basket next to the drawers."

Solis left to go get his spare clothes, which he left in the room his siblings occupied, and went into the shower room shortly after. Solis came out from the shower room minutes after while drying his hair. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to check his cousin's fridge to see what he could work with.

"Leave it to Tenacity to buy a lot of everything. I can make a lot with these."

Satisfied with what he found he turned toward the couches and saw that his cousin was asleep. As he walked over, Tenacity let out a loud snore, which annoyed him. Solis took the blanket partially draped over his legs and put it over Tenacity's face. He choked on the blanket as he breathed in and coughed as he woke up.

"Eugh...what was that?"

"The blanket," Solis replied.

"I put it over your face because you were snoring too loudly."

Solis took a seat on the couch across from Tenacity and laid down. He and his cousin both stared at the white ceiling as they let their thoughts wander. Their trance was broken when Elise came down the stairs from the bathroom.

"Hey, Solis!"

Solis and Tenacity turned their heads toward her.

"You left this on the bathroom sink."

The object she was referring to was the necklace he had made a few days ago. Solis took it from her and put it around his neck.

"Thanks, Elise, it felt like I was missing something."

She walked away and went into her room.

Tenacity was intrigued by what Solis had around his neck so he asked.

"You're not one to wear jewelry, Solis, what is it?"

Solis tossed him the necklace and Tenacity caught it.

"Oh, would you look at that. It's Aunty and Uncle."

The necklace spun around in his hands as he continued to observe it.

After a while, Tenacity gave Solis his necklace back.

"Don't ever lose it," Tenacity sternly told Solis.

"I made a promise to myself already that I wouldn't lose it."

After Solis put his necklace on again, he repositioned himself on the couch so that his back was turned toward Tenacity and closed his eyes. It took Tenacity a minute to fall asleep but his eyes closed soon enough.

A few hours later, Solis and Tenacity woke up to a loud crash. They shot up from their couch and looked up toward the bedrooms. Solis was the first to start moving while Tenacity followed. They walked up and into Fera and Ad's room to find that Fera had Ad up against a wall.

Ad was laughing while Fera had a sour look on her face.

"Hahaha, Solis, Tenacity, you should've been there to see it! It was hilarious!"

"Shut up, Ad!" Fera warned.

Solis stepped in and divided the two.

"What happened?"

He looked at Fera for an answer.

It was Ad who answered instead, "We went into our mental plane and decided to do a sparring match. Muun was there to watch too."

"Okay, so what happened?"

"I humiliated Fera."

Ad puffed out his chest in triumph. Then, Tenacity bent down and celebrated a little bit with Ad, both of them laughing together. Fera stood there with a sour look still on her face.

"What really happened?" asked Solis.

Fera gave her brother a detailed explanation of her match with Ad. It started off pretty normal and looked like it would go in Fera's favor, but apparently, Ad cheated and transformed suddenly. He squashed Fera, thus ending their match in her loss. Solis comforted his sister but she had a hard time swallowing the fact she lost. She had the right to complain since Ad clearly cheated.

"Just do it again, Fera. You have plenty of time to fight before we have to eat."

"I was going to do that anyway."

"This time, let Muun watch. If it's her, she will definitely stop Ad, so let her help," Solis suggested.

Fera nodded and went over to her bed.

With the matter resolved, Solis went back downstairs with Tenacity trailing behind. He went over to the kitchen and started taking out the ingredients he needed. With everything out, Solis got to work. His cousin watched as he leaned on the other side of the kitchen counter. Solis continued cutting up the meats and prepared his seasonings. As Solis was seasoning the lamb chops, Tenacity decided to talk to him.

"Hey, you never told me why you came to find me."

"We needed help if we wanted to overthrow the Great Ones."

Solis went on to season pork chops as they talked.

"Tenacity tell me, did you ever catch my scent in the past seventeen years we've been apart? The reason we came here is because I caught yours, but I refuse to believe you couldn't catch mine."

Tenacity was silent for a bit before he answered.

"I did, I think, or at least I thought it was you. I just never went to find you because I thought it might've just been a goose chase. I was afraid of not finding anything."

Solis looked up at his cousin and saw that there was a bit of fear left in his eyes.

"Well, we're here now," he said to reassure Tenacity.

Solis stretched out a clenched fist and Tenacity looked at it.

"I'm not fist-bumping you. You have seasoning all over your fingers."

Solis flicked his fingers causing the seasoning on his fingers to fly at Tenacity. He reeled back and wiped his face off.

"I don't understand why how you were born before me. You don't act like you're older," Tenacity told Solis.

Solis just laughed at him in response.

He went back to preparing the meats. Solis placed a skillet onto their stove and turned it on. Once he felt the skillet was hot enough, he placed the lamb chops onto it. As he let them sizzle, he turned on the oven. He brought out a metal baking pan to place the pork chops onto. He turned back to the lamb chops to check on their condition before placing the pork chops into the oven.

He went around the kitchen counter and took the chair beside Tenacity to talk while he waited for the meat to cook.

"Tenacity, there was one thing I wanted to ask."

"What is it?"

"On our way here, Lunis decided to try and find some information on you and was successful. It was an article about a 'monster' that I could tell was you."

"Oh...that..."

"So, what happened?"

"I...lost control?"

"Lost control? Is that all you have to say?"

"Look, I got into an argument with someone and they said something that pissed me off."

"Really Tenacity?"

"What did you want me to do?!?! They started going at our family!!"

"Even so! I don't understand why you had to transform! If there were unnecessary casualties, you know what your dad would say to you, right?!?!"

Tenacity stood up from his chair and grabbed Solis by the collar.

"Don't start with me, Solis..."

Solis grabbed Tenacity's wrist and squeezed it.

"Put. Me. Down."

Tenacity let go and so did Solis. Solis went back over to the stove and oven to check on the lamb and pork.

As he flipped over the lamb chops, he told Tenacity, "Look...I understand why you did what you did, but we're supposed to be above that Tenacity."

After he finished checking the meat, he took the seat next to Tenacity again.

"Setting aside the argument we had... tell me how you've been for the past seventeen years."

Tenacity turned to Solis and let his memories, of his time in Arizona, spill out. They laughed as Tenacity broke hearts during his highschool days and how some of the women still chased after him. He told Solis of the time his class was taken for a field trip to Hawaii for an expedition of sorts. Tenacity continued talking while Solis paid close attention.

"Wow, it seems you've been doing just fine then," Solis said as he looked at Tenacity in wonder.

"I have but nothing beats being with my family."

Tenacity lightly punched Solis's shoulder.

Tenacity leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh.

"Your turn now, Solis, tell me how you've been."

Before he gave Tenacity the run down, he went back over the stove and checked on the condition of their food. He talked as he turned the lamb chops over and got the plates ready.

"Did anyone try to approach Lunis while you guys were at school?" Tenacity asked.

Solis thought about it for a second.

"Hmm...I don't recall anyone ever approaching her, or it could've been the fact that she dealt with it herself."

"Hehe, that makes sense."

"How about you then, Solis, did any females come up to you?"

After plating the lamb and pork chops, he told Tenacity, "None at all."

"Is that so?"

His cousin looked at him in amusement.

"How come?"

"If I recall I'm what the females down here call 'average.'"

Tenacity laughed and said, "They'd be right! At least if we're talking about your appearance now. If we were to talk about your 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 appearance then it'd be a different story."

Solis looked over at him and said, "It doesn't matter anyway. I don't mind that they find me average, I have no interest in relationships anyway."

"Don't be like that Solis. You're of age now so you should find one."

"I don't care that I'm 'of age' I just see no benefit of having a partner."

Solis walked over to the dinner table and sat the two plates, with meat stacks two feet high, down.

"Whatever you say Solis."

Solis saw Tenacity get up from his seat and walk upstairs. With a moment to himself, he had to admit, that in the back of his mind, he did find the concept of a relationship interesting. It was just that his curiosity about relationships wasn't strong enough to go out and actively seek it.

A few moments after, he could hear his cousin call everyone down to eat. Not long after, he heard numerous footsteps come down the stairs.

"I was waiting for one of you to call us downstairs. I couldn't stand just smelling that wonderful aroma!" shouted Ad.

As everyone sat down, Solis felt something was off. He looked around the table and noticed that they were missing a member.

"Hey, let's not start yet. I need to get Elise."

Solis got up and went over to Elise's room.

After he knocked a few times, he asked, "Elise we're going to eat. Are you going to join us?"

He didn't get a response so he decided to try again.

"Elise! Are you in there?"

Same thing, no response. Solis decided it wouldn't hurt to check inside.

"Elise! I'm coming in!"

He opened the door slowly and walked inside. The room was dim with the only light source coming from the sliver of moonlight peeking through her blinds. Solis walked over to the left corner of the room and saw a lump of blankets resting on the bed. As he approached, he could hear muffled crying from beneath the blankets.

"Hey, Elise, you there?"

Solis lifted up the blankets and saw that Elise was crying.

"S-Solis?!"

"Yeah, it's me," he said looking down at her.

Elise sat up on her bed and quickly tried wiping away her tears.

"You alright?" Solis asked.

"Y-yeah I'm fine. I was just watching a sad movie. Sorry I didn't hear you knock."

She showed him her phone which was played a scene of the movie she was watching.

Solis bent down and looked at it.

"Oh, okay," he said.

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to come out and eat with us."

"I will, let me just clean myself up a bit. I'll meet you guys at the table."

Solis turned and exited the room. He sat back down with his family and told them to hold off until Elise came around to eat.

It wasn't long until Elise emerged from her room and had sat down with them. When she did, they all began their ritual, with Elise who watched intently.

"No gree- oh wait I forget that you guys aren't fond of vegetables."

Elise was intimidated by the amount of meat before her but she knew she had to eat it anyway. As the people around her ravaged their plates, Solis licked his fingers as he spoke to Elise.

"Nesch chtime eill adjd bedgetables ifh ew whah."

"Solis chew your food before you talk to me, please? I barely understood you."

Solis swallowed the bits of lamb and said, "Sorry, I was saying, if you want, I could add some vegetables, of your choice, to your plate next time. Just ask me what you'd like and I'll make it for you."

Elise perked up in her chair.

"Really? Then next time I'll be sure to let you know because frankly, I'm not such a meat-eater like all of you. I like to have some greens on my plates ya know?"

What Elise said made the people around her laugh.

"What? I like eating a balanced diet!" She told them.

"It's okay, Elise, we understand," Fera told her.

The laughter died down and everyone went back to eating their meals.

Not much time had passed before every scrap of food disappeared. Some sat in their chairs holding their stomachs in delight, like Ad and Fera, while others, like Lunis and Tenacity, found toothpicks to clean their teeth. Solis got up to start putting away their dishes so that he could clean them. He asked everyone who wasn't helping clean to go somewhere else while he did. Once he had all the plates in the sink, he began washing. Elise stood next to him as she helped him wash.

As they washed their dishes, Solis struck up a conversation with Elise.

"How are you holding up so far, Elise?"

She looked up from the dish she was drying off to respond.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm asking if you're doing fine."

"I still don't understand what you mean."

"You've been traveling now with people who you could consider strangers. I understand that you're acquainted with each of us now, but I know you don't have the deepest of connections with us."

"You're very perceptive, Solis," she smiled as she talked with him.

"On the contrary, I don't think I am."

"Well, then, to answer your question, I'm doing alright. I would be lying though if I didn't say that, at times, I felt lonely."

"Oh, well I apologize," Solis said.

"You're not at fault, it's not something you could've prevented, but even if that's the case, I'm more excited to be with you all than anything else."

"How exactly?"

Solis temporarily stopped washing to listen to her talk.

"This is my biggest assignment I've been given by my family. The fact I've been given such an important assignment makes me feel like I've taken a few steps closer to being like my sister."

Solis laughed at Elise because to him, it was like watching a little kid boast about their achievements. Solis raised his hand and started stroking her head. Elise quickly slapped his hand away in surprise.

"W-what was that for?!"

"Sorry, was that embarrassing for you? I wanted to congratulate you, and that was the only way I knew how."

Elise took her hand and had her palm facing him. She then took his hand and made it touch hers.

"Do this instead," she suggested.

"What are we doing exactly?"

"Down here, we humans call this a 'high-five.'"

"'High-five?'"

"You've been here for seventeen years and you don't know what a 'high-five' is? I'm sure you must've seen students do it when we were back in Florida."

Solis thought about it for a moment before replying.

"Maybe I have, but if I did, I probably didn't pay much attention so it slipped my mind."

"Unbelievable. Anyway, if you want to congratulate me then do this, instead of just patting my head."

Solis his hand back down to his side.

"I patted your head because it's what I usually do for my siblings, but I'll be sure to remember the 'high-five.'"

Solis looked back down at the dishes and resumed working. With their conversation coming to an abrupt stop, Elise had no choice but to get back to work as well.

Before long, all the dishes in the sink were done and put away. Solis and Elise left the kitchen and went to do their own thing. Elise went back into her room to finish her movie while Solis went outside to look at the stars. It was almost nine when Solis decided to stargaze. So, as he sat on the plateau, he looked at the beautiful night sky bathed in a deep blue.

You could say that it was an odd habit for Solis, but outside is where he felt most free, and when he looked up at the sky it enhanced that feeling of freedom even more. He focused on the flickering light of the stars as they performed their beautiful choreography across the sky.

Solis continued to gaze at the sky with such fervor that the ambient noise around him started to fade. It wasn't until he felt a presence join him on top of the plateau that his focus was broken.

"Tenacity? Why're you here?"

"To ask what we're gonna do next. You can't have come to find me without having a plan."

"I know, I didn't."

Solis got up from the ground and came face to face with Tenacity.

"For now, at most, I'm giving us a day, or two, of rest. We'll restock and check our belongings for what we need. Then, we go to LA's airport to fly to Spain."

"Why there?" Tenacity questioned.

"I plan on taking out the Pillars before we confront the Great Ones. If we get to them first, then fighting the Great Ones will be much easier."

The Pillars were the families that supported the Great Ones hence their namesake 'Pillars.'

"The Pillars?! You mean we plan to fight all 4?!!?"

"Quiet down, Tenacity, and yes that's the plan."

"And you think that just you and I are enough to beat all 4?!?!!"

"Tenacity, for the second time calm down. I don't intend to take them on all at once, or at least that's what I'm hoping happens. I do understand there's a chance that the other Pillars will find out about what we're doing, but I'm trying to devise a plan for that."

"This will NOT go smoothly. If you want to pull this off, all three Suns need to be here. Not just you and me."

"I know that! But what are we supposed to do?! Kalamati is nowhere to be found so you want us to just wait for her?!"

"That's not what I mean. I'm saying that we should at least gather enough power to equal that if all three of us were together."

After Solis heard Tenacity, he bit his thumb in response. He didn't want to admit it, but Tenacity was right. His plan was very ambitious and would require the combined effort of all three of them if he wanted it to go smoothly.

He had a hard time thinking up any other plans that could heavily cripple the Great One's support other than to just take out the Pillars. Taking on one of the four was a daunting task in itself already. Just one Pillar had enough might to destroy a continent. Even with him, Tenacity, and the others, they would still have trouble taking down one of them.

"If only we were full-grown, Tenacity."

"We can't do anything about it. Instead, let's just make sure that we stay alive long enough to fully grow."

Tenacity put a hand on Solis's shoulder and looked into his eyes. As Tenacity stood there, he noticed something was up with Solis.

"Hey, wait, what happened to your eyes??"

"Wait, what do you--Oh, yeah...I haven't told you about this yet huh?"

Solis stepped away from Tenacity and removed his contacts.

"W-what did you just do?" his cousin asked.

"I got contacts to hide the color of our eyes. If we're to be as 'discreet' as possible then we should make sure no one can recognize us. I thought that if the Great Ones send monsters after us, then our eyes would be a dead giveaway."

"So...so...I have to hide my eyes then too?"

Solis gave him a nod.

He pried his eyes open to reinsert the contacts before walking over to the edge of the plateau.

"Come, it's time we head back."

Once Tenacity was at his side, Solis hopped off the plateau and the two of them headed toward the house.

Once they were back, Solis had gotten one of his bags where Tenacity's contacts were and pulled them out. He handed them over to Tenacity who quickly opened up the package. Once his contacts were in, he blinked a few times to put them into place.

"Ahh, jeez. These things are itchy."

"Ha, that's what Ad said when he put his in too."

Tenacity walked over to a nearby mirror and checked his reflection.

"Not going to lie, not seeing those gold eyes of ours is oddly scary."

"It is, isn't it? Almost as if a piece of us is missing."

Tenacity went to scratch his eye and, just like Ad, his eyes turned a deep red. A dark, purple smoke seeped from his eyes and when he blinked again, they had returned to normal.

"You'll get used to it," Solis reassured him.

"Anyway, there's also one thing that I need to give all of you, so could you get everyone please?"

Tenacity nodded and went upstairs while Solis walked over to Elise's room, which was situated behind the stairs that led to the second floor.

He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Hold on! Let me change and I'll be there in a second."

Thankfully, Elise answered this time instead of him having to barge in uninvited, and it wasn't long before Solis saw Elise in front of him.

"Hey, Solis, is there something you need?"

"Yeah, I need to meet with you in the living room. Tenacity is getting the rest of them to come down as well."

"I see, okay then."

Elise brushed past him as she went over to one of the couches and took a seat. Solis followed suit and sat on a couch across from Elise. Solis's attention was directed to the second floor when Tenacity emerged from his sibling's room. Ad followed behind Tenacity with Fera slightly lagging behind. Tenacity split from them and went into where the Alexandrias were staying.

"Fera was just about to sleep before Tenacity came to get us. You should've seen her, Solis, she was about to pass out," Ad teased as they walked down the stairs.

Being too tired to slap her brother, Fera let out a yawn instead.

"What do you need from us anyway?" asked Fera.

"We'll get to that when Tenacity gets Lunis and Muun."

As if on cue, Tenacity came out of the room with Lunis and Muun in tow. He led them down the stairs and over to the couches.

"Alright, will you tell us now?" Fera asked once again.

"Yeah, I'll start now."

Solis repositioned himself before he started talking.

"This is just a minor subject but something I would like to discuss with all of you nonetheless. So, from now on, I would like it if you guys wore these whenever we fight."

Solis reached behind the couch and took out a bag full of black masks that resembled his.

"These are so that the humans don't catch a glimpse of our faces. I'm not worried about hiding from the creatures they send after us because they would know already, but just to save us the hassle of always having to erase memories whenever we fight."

From across him, Elise brought up a concerning point, "Umm, Solis, I only count six masks."

He looked down and noticed there were only six.

"Alright, then we'll go shopping for your masks tomorrow morning, Elise. Besides that, that is all I wanted to tell you guys. Get some rest now everyone."

After he dismissed them, everyone got up and went up to their rooms, except for Tenacity and Solis. Solis took one of the pillows on the couch and set it up against the armrest and laid down. Tenacity simply just laid down and covered himself with a blanket. In no time, they were both soundly asleep.

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