6 Pursued

Solis had woken up in the middle of the night because he felt the urge to use the restroom. He looked around the room and noticed a faint glow in the corner. He walked over to it and found that it was just their digital clock. "Only three in the morning?" he said to himself.

He walked away from the clock and over to their bathroom to use it. As he exited the bathroom, he heard a knock come from their door. He rubbed his eyes as he walked over to open it. He expected to see Lunis there since she was the only one who knew where their room was or it was an overly friendly neighbor but that was highly unlikely.

Surprisingly, it may have been the latter as Solis greeted the stranger before him, "Good evening, is there something I can help you with?"

"I would just like to ask if your name is Solis Arcana?"

"Yes, so is there something I can help you with?" he asked confused by the midnight encounter.

"Yeah," the stranger replied.

Her answer caused him to become cautious about her presence.

"How did you know what number room I was in?"

"Call it a hunch, but I'd like to talk to you about some things," they said.

His suspicion of their presence grew, but Solis knew he couldn't act brashly. He didn't have any solid evidence that they were a potential threat, but the fact they knew where his room was, did put him on edge. He put up his guard and continued talking to the stranger.

"What is it?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like a bit more privacy. If you'll follow me please," the stranger said as they walked away from the door.

Solis decided to follow but did so from a distance. He watched as they went over to the emergency staircase and walked up. The sound of their footsteps echoed as they ascended the stairs. Soon, Solis found himself on top of the hotel with the stranger.

He watched as they approached the edge of the roof and began walking along it. They playfully hopped across it without any fear for their own life. They turned around and looked at Solis. With the moon at their back, Solis couldn't make out any facial features beneath their hood.

He looked at them and asked, "We have the privacy you wanted, state your business."

"Slow down Arcana, I just want to talk. There's no need to rush."

"Quit playing games, I do not want my time wasted. If you're here to cause my family trouble, I'll deal with you quickly."

"Now, now," she said, "I ask that you not be hasty. I'll explain everything soon."

"Enough with the delaying, get down to it already," Solis started getting impatient.

"You see Arcana, I come from an organization that deals with your kind. We've kept tabs on you for a very long time, it was our job to look out for you. The best that we could do at least because it's not like your family needed much protecting anyway," she said with a laugh.

They continued on, "The Great Ones granted us the privilege--"

Upon hearing them say 'Great Ones' he had thrown his Essence across the distance between them and knocked the stranger off the roof. Before they fell too far, he had caught them by the ankles.

The confident facade the stranger had put up earlier crumbled into tiny pieces as Solis dangled them over the roof.

They screamed at him, "L-let me go! W-wait, actually, don't do that! Put me back on the roof!"

"Why should I?" he asked her with a piercing gaze.

"B-because it was just a joke! Well, not some of it."

"I don't do jokes. You said 'Great Ones' I assume you're with them and were sent here to cause us trouble."

"No, no, that's not the case! I was going to tell you something else!"

"Spit it out then," he demanded.

"I will, I will! Put me down, please? Solis?"

He agreed and tossed them back onto the roof. He stepped away from the edge and saw who the stranger was after the hood fell off their head.

"Elise?" he asked.

"Y-yes, hello Solis."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was sent here-"

She stopped talking when Solis raised a fist at her.

"Wait, wait! Please! It's not what you think!" she yelled, frantically waving her hands in front of her.

"I was sent here by my great-grandmother to aid you," she told him.

"Aid us? How so?"

"R-remember how I said I came from an organization earlier?"

"I do," he said sternly.

"You might know who we are if I tell you the name. I'm a member of the Mages of Ruin."

He lowered his fist but kept his guard up after hearing that name.

"You're with them? I don't believe you, I was told they disappeared after we were usurped," he said to her.

"No, we didn't disappear, we just went into hiding and awaited your return. I can prove it to you we still exist."

She rolled up the sleeve of her left arm, which revealed a distinct tattoo. The tattoo on her left shoulder was a reptilian eye that was stood vertically and had two canes beside it. For the pupil of the eye, it was replaced with the symbol in alchemy that represented gold.

Solis did not doubt the existence of the Mages anymore and lowered his fist.

"Great to see that the Mages still exist. I thought that after we were tossed away, you guys would cease to exist and stop teaching magic and alchemy."

He walked over to Elise and stretched his hand out, "Allow me to apologize and help you up," he said.

Elise broke into a panic and replied, "No, no, please don't bother, I took the joke too for and I can do it myself Lord Arcana!"

"Lord?" Solis was confused as to why she had called him 'Lord'.

"I-it's what my great-grandmother told me to call you if I ever met you. It should make sense since you're now technically the leader after your father di-"

She stopped talking when she noticed Solis glaring at her.

She quickly apologized, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offense."

"No, you're fine," he said, "It's just a painful memory."

"Yes, of course, Lord Arcana."

"Stop with the Lord please," he pleaded her.

"Why Lord Arcana? It's what you are right?" she responded.

"You're right but I don't accept the title. Things are different now and besides, I don't like it when you call me Lord, it makes it seem like you're our servant."

"But we are! We were taught to listen to the wishes of the Arcanas!" she argued.

"I know and I don't like it," then he thought of an idea,"but if you are to listen to our wishes then, I want you to stop calling me Lord."

Elise was stunned by what Solis had said and tried to argue, "B-but it would anger my great-grandmother if she found out!"

"I will talk to her personally if she has a problem with it, so any objections?"

"O-oh, t-then I'll stop calling you Lord," and she gave in.

"And before you continue I would prefer it if you use my first name," he told her.

"Wait wh-"

Solis interrupted her by saying, "-because I have two other family members that share the last name. We wouldn't want any confusion would we?"

She understood the logic behind his words and said, "Of course, it makes sense."

"Before we head back down, I would like to ask, is your great-grandmother Eliza Malchemi?"

"Yes, she is, do you know her?"

"I met her when she was young and had a little chat with her," he started walking towards the staircase before continuing, "so I can assume you're a Malchemi as well, Elise?"

"I am, Solis. Middle child of four siblings!"

"I expect great things from you then, Elise. We're glad to have you along with us."

"Glad to be here Lor- err I mean Solis."

They had started walking back down when Solis asked her another question.

"You have a room for yourself right, Elise?"

"I do, it's the room left of yours."

"Good to hear. If there's anything you need then don't be afraid to ask us."

They had begun walking down in silence again when Elise had something she wanted to ask.

"If I may ask, why are you acting so nice to me, Solis? Earlier you were just about ready to kill me."

"That's because I didn't know who you were, so I assumed the worst and thought you were an enemy. Now that I know who you are, I have no reason to be hostile."

"That's not what I meant, so I'll ask again, why are you so nice to me?"

Solis took a second to think about her question and told her, "Oh, I see what you're saying. It's because the Arcanas have always seen the Mages as companions, not just servants. Your organization has been unwavering in its loyalty to my family. I repay this kindness by being kind to its mages, like you."

"Is that so?" she said in amazement.

"It is, so I would like to tell you that you can come to us if you need help, Elise. We are indebted to the Mages for all they've done."

Elise tried to shoot down his offer, "I couldn't possibly ask you for help, Solis. That would be selfish of me."

Solis responded, "I won't argue with you then. If you don't want to, that's fine, but my offer stands."

When they reached the sixth floor they split up and went into their own rooms. Before Elise went into hers, she had one more thing to say to Solis.

"Hey, Solis?"

He turned his head towards her in response.

"I just want to say, you're different than from the rumors I've heard about you."

Solis didn't react to it but he said something under his breath that Elise couldn't pick up. Instead, he decided to tell her, "We leave later in the morning at eight," and went into the room to get more sleep before they left.

Elise went into her room shortly after.

Solis felt a sharp pain in his back which caused him to wake up. As he grew more conscious, he could feel the pain become more unbearable.

"Ah, jeez," he said as he swatted the hand that pinched his back.

"Get up!" shouted Fera, "It's seven-fifty right now Solis! You said we'd leave at eight!"

Solis took a glance over at the television stand and saw that it was indeed seven-fifty. He rushed out of bed and told his siblings to go down into the lobby to wait for Lunis and Muun.

After they left, he changed into a new set of clothes and quickly exited the room. He walked out and was greeted by Elise.

"Good morning, Solis," she said cheerfully.

"To you as well. We're running late so let's get going."

He started down the hall with Elise close behind him. They approached the elevator doors and Solis pressed the button to call the elevator. They waited a few moments before they heard a ding accompanied by the opening of the elevator doors. Before they entered, Solis paused in front of it which confused Elise.

"Is there something wrong Solis?" she asked.

"I forgot my other bag in the room. Go downstairs ahead of me and introduce yourself to everyone else, I'll be with you guys shortly," he told her and waved her off.

She gave a small nod and stood still as the elevator doors closed in front of her. Solis turned around and went back over to the room. Back in the room, he found his duffel bag beside his bed and bent down to pick it up.

As he exited the room with his duffel bag, he bumped into something. Solis stepped back and saw that it was someone that was standing in the doorway.

The man was unbelievably short with very muscular features that were even visible beneath the sleek tuxedo he wore. His bowler hat covered his face so that Solis couldn't catch any facial features, but he could see a thick beard from the man's face.

He looked down at the man and said, "My apologies, I didn't see you standing there. I just need to go around you and I'll be out of your way."

"No, I don't think you'll be doing that at all Aurelios," said the man in a deep voice with a heavy Germanic accent.

"Excuse me?" said Solis.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go anywhere," then the man started moving his left hand towards his back.

Solis knew what would happen next. He reached into his bag that contained the 'emergency' items he brought along with him and pulled out a black mask that had black lenses in the eye sockets. He put it on, which only covered the upper half of his face.

The moment after, the stout man pulled out a massive hammer from his back. Solis knew that such a massive hammer couldn't be hidden easily so he knew the man in front of him was not a normal mortal.

The man held the massive hammer with both of his hands and told Solis, "My brothers and I were sent here by the Great Ones to take you to the Auditorium, Aurelios."

Solis finally got a better look at the man's face beneath the hat. Aside from his gorgeous looking suit, his face was anything but that. It was very rough and covered everywhere with scars. Solis didn't like looking at the grotesque man but it did let him figure out who he was up against.

"Dwarf of Stone, I suggest that you back away now if you want to escape with your lives," threatened Solis.

Just then, two more dwarves appeared from behind the first dwarf and stood beside him with equally massive hammers. The dwarf on the far left wore a white tuxedo and had a slightly taller stature and sported a ginger-colored beard, rather than the black beard the dwarf in the middle had. The dwarf on the far right was the same height as the one in the middle and had on the same tuxedo and the same color beard as well.

The dwarf on the far left spoke up, "Let it be known to you, Golden One, before we kill you that I am Erz, oldest of the Stein brothers."

The middle one spoke up as well, "I am Eisen," then the far right one said, "And I am Kupfer."

In unison, they both said, "We are the twins of the Stein brothers."

Finished with their introductions, Solis had something to say to them as well, "I do not care for your names dwarves, there is no use trying to remember those who are soon to be forgotten."

His statement irked Erz and he retaliated, "Fine! We will take back your battered corpse then, Aurelios!"

Eisen and Kupfer banged their hammers together which produced a shockwave and made the area of the building they were in to crumble. This caused Solis to free fall towards the front lot of the hotel while the brothers watched as they clung to a wall for safety

"You'll get innocent people involved! Damn you, arrogant dwarves!" Solis shouted at them.

Solis repositioned himself as he fell and grabbed his bags. He floated down towards the ground and set them aside. He looked back up to the falling rubble and mustered up some of his Essence and used it to stop all the rubble from hitting the floor. He held the tremendous weight in his Essence and put it down beside him. The commotion was quickly noticed by nearby citizens and caused Solis to become more anxious.

"I have to finish this quickly or move all of this somewhere else," he said.

He turned his head over to the sound of the hotel doors opening and saw his companions who were staring at him.

"You guys deal with the citizens, while I try to finish this up quickly!" he shouted at them.

Fera and Ad were quick to act and let out smoke from their noses. As the smoke moved around the citizens, they all fell asleep. Lunis and Elise swooped in and started carrying the unconscious citizens out of harm's way.

The Steins didn't like the help Solis was receiving so they let go of the wall and dropped down towards the ground. They all rode their hammers down which caused a massive stone pillar to jut up from the ground. The pillar caught the Steins and helped slow their descent. Erz tossed his hammer at Lunis as soon as they landed.

She saw the incoming projectile and kicked the hammer into the ground. She tried running away again but Erz slammed the ground and made a pillar of stone jut out that propelled him towards Lunis. As he flew, he grabbed his hammer's handle and swung it over his head and down onto Lunis. She narrowly dodged his hammer and backed away from him.

"You're going to hurt this man if you don't back away!" she yelled back at Erz.

Erz didn't care for her warning and took his hammer and pointed it at the ground. The rocks floated towards Erz's hammer as if it was a magnet and tore out a huge clump of rock that left a gaping hole in its place. He swung his hammer around and let the bundle of rocks fly at Lunis.

The barrage of rocks came at Lunis at great speeds which she tried to avoid. She kept narrowly dodging the flying rocks but was caught off guard when a rock flew at her as soon as she jumped. She positioned herself in a way that would protect the citizen she was holding and braced for the impact.

Solis moved from his spot and stopped the rock flying at Lunis with one hand.

He looked at her and said, "Get out of here quick!"

"Thanks, Solis, I owe you one," and she darted off.

Solis took the rock he had in his hand and tossed it back towards Erz but Kupfer was there to break it. Little did Kupfer know, Solis pursued the rock he had thrown and was right in front of Kupfer which took him by surprise. Solis grabbed Kupfer's face and tossed him into the hotel making a massive hole in the building.

Erz let out a war cry and swung at Solis. Solis ducked underneath the horizontal swing of his hammer and grabbed Erz's wrist with his left hand. He stood up quickly and punched Erz right in the jaw with his right hand and sent his body flying across the ground.

"Brothers!" yelled Eisen as he charged at Solis.

Solis turned to face Eisen as the dwarf brought down his hammer with one hand. Solis stepped to the side and was going to kick Eisen away but was stopped when Eisen used his free hand that conjured up a pillar that launched into Solis's gut.

The pillar flung him into a nearby tree and caused it to snap in half. Eisen went after Solis and readied his hammer as he approached the crash site. He stopped when he saw the fallen tree shake. He crept closer and closer towards the tree and hoped to find Solis's body. The next thing he knew, he was batted away by the fallen tree and was sent into the hotel which caused another massive hole in the building.

Solis tossed the tree, like a javelin, at where Eisen had landed. He heard a loud grunt which he assumed meant he had hit him. He ran over to Eisen and found him, half-conscious, beneath the tree. He picked the dwarf up by the head and tossed him back outside in front of the hotel. Next, he searched for Kupfer's body and went over to where he had thrown him.

He was caught by surprise as Kupfer's hammer struck him in the back and sent him crashing through a wall and back outside. Solis shook off the debris that had fallen on him but saw that Kupfer had a rock at the ready.

He launched the rock down towards Solis and he held up his hands in order to block the attack. Kupfer broke his attempt at blocking the rock by making a pillar come from behind Solis. It propelled him towards the rock Kupfer threw and the two of them collided together.

Solis landed back onto the ground and dusted himself off.

Kupfer witnessed as Solis used his partial transformation. His body grew in size and his hair grew slightly longer with the ends of it with gold tips.

Kupfer was not deterred by his change in appearance and swung his hammer, sending a barrage of debris at Solis. He kept swinging his hammer as he bombarded Solis. As the dust cleared, Kapfer had lost sight of Solis. He looked all around him and searched for Solis but to no avail.

Suddenly, Solis appeared behind Kampfer and brought both his hands down onto the dwarf. Solis took Kapfer's hammer and crumpled it together with his hands which rendered it useless. He tossed the metal, which was once a hammer, to the side as he went down into the crater where Kapfer was.

Solis wanted to make sure he was out for good so he brought a fist down onto the dwarf's face, further burying it into the ground.

He hopped out of the hole he made and looked for Erz. He saw the place where he had sent the eldest dwarf but saw he wasn't there. He turned around and saw a massive golem that swung its fist at Solis. The punch sent him flying backward and into another tree.

"You have angered us, Aurelios! We may be called stone dwarves, but that does mean we are as weak as simple stone! We have spent many generations alongside the Earth which has given us the gift of manipulating anything that contains minerals! You will face the might of our power!" shouted Erz.

Solis knocked aside the branch that was covered his view and saw that there were now two golems. It seemed Eisen had conjured up a golem for himself as well and stood beside his older brother.

"You will pay for what you did to Kapfer," yelled Eisen.

Eisen and Erz detached their golem fists and flung them towards Solis. He quickly knocked away the tree and jumped out of the way of the fists. He looked at where the fists landed and saw a huge hole in the ground.

"That's some power," he said mockingly.

"Don't make a mockery of us!" the dwarves shouted at him.

Erz brought his golem's foot down and made a huge crack appear across the ground. Solis avoided this by just flying and went straight towards Erz. He grabbed the giant golem by the ankle and spun him around and into Eisen's golem. With both the brothers on the ground, Solis jumped up into the air and brought his hands down onto their golems, smashing them both to pieces.

"What was all that talk earlier about not being as weak as a rock?" he mocked the dwarves on the ground.

The two dwarves were stunned that their strongest technique had been shattered so easily. They had now realized how outclassed they were and tried to run away.

"Don't try to run, you won't get far. I'll be sending you to meet your brother anyways," he said to the fleeing dwarves.

He grabbed both of their ankles and slammed them repeatedly into the ground. Their bodies soon went limp and Solis stopped his attack. He took the limp bodies and put them into the hole with Kapfer. He held up a hand and said, "Erase."

A surge of his Essence came from his hand and turned the dwarven bodies into tiny particles which were then carried off by a gentle breeze.

He let out a sigh of relief after he finished up the fight. He turned around and saw the damage he made and let out another sigh but not of relief.

"Jeez, I should've ended it sooner. I made too much of a mess this time," he said to himself. He dusted himself off one more time and went off to look for his companions.

He didn't have to walk too far when one of his companions found him instead. Elise approached him and tapped on his shoulder, causing him to turn around.

"Elise, where'd you guys go?" he asked.

"We just hid behind one of the office buildings as you fought and came out when Fera told us you had finished."

"Good to hear, could you get my siblings and everyone else back here then?"

"Of course, I'll be back soon," she told him and ran off.

Solis decided to clean up a little bit before the rest of his companions got there and he knew he had a lot of work to finish. Since his fight had occurred early in the day, there were a lot of people still inside and around the hotel who were there to watch. He knew he had to erase all the memories of the people who had witnessed it and to do it quickly, but he decided to repair the hotel first.

When he finished up putting the hotel walls back together, he began to run around the first floor of the hotel. His plan was to erase the memories of the people there who may or may not have seen his fight. From the first floor to the last, he ran through each resident's room and erased their memory.

He finished erasing everyone's memory by the time his siblings, the Alexandrias, and Elise came back.

His sister was the first to walk up to him, "Any trouble Solis?" she asked.

"No, I finished it pretty quickly, but I caused a bit too much environmental damage," he said as he gestured towards the fallen trees and holes in the ground.

"Are you going to fix those?" Fera pointed at the same things Solis did.

"No, it's possible they would consider these damages as 'natural', even though it isn't, and would most likely repair it themselves," he said with a relaxed tone.

"Oh, so then did you erase their memories already?"

"Of course I did, I finished just before all of you got here."

"Then the camera feeds?"

Solis forgot to do that so he gave Fera a blank stare.

She shook her head and said, "Fine, I'll clean your little mistake up. You can take the rest of them to the car and just wait for me there."

"What would I do without you Fera?" he said with a teasing tone.

She went inside the hotel while the rest of them went over to the car and went inside. The kids went to the back seat and Lunis took her spot in the passenger seat. Solis sat once again in the driver's seat while Elise stood outside the car.

Confused, Solis asked, "You're not getting inside?"

"Um, I don't think I can. There wouldn't be enough space for Fera to sit if I did," she responded.

"That's not a big deal, just have Muun sit on your lap. She's small enough that it shouldn't be a bother to you and if it does you can just ask us to sit in the passenger's seat to take a break."

"Are you sure? What if Muun doesn't like the idea?"

She saw Muun who was looking at her and said, "I don't mind Miss Elise. You have a nice smell and I don't believe you're a bad person if Solis took a liking to you."

She blushed slightly at the statement Muun made and responded, "A-alright, I'll do as you say."

Ad and Muun shuffled over a few seats and made room for Elise to sit down. Once she was seated Muun went over to her and onto her lap.

She looked back and said," If I'm too heavy just let me know Miss Elise."

Elise took a big liking to the sweet girl and gave her a smile. Elise patted her head signifying that she was alright with her.

All they had to do now was wait for Fera's return. Muun had comfortably played around with Ad, even though she sat on top of Elise. In the distance, Elise could make out the silhouette of Fera and pointed her out to Solis.

Solis saw his sister and decided to bring the car over to her. Once he got close enough, she hopped in and they proceeded to leave the city.

As they were on the road Solis asked, "Since you're riding with us, I'm assuming you either can't drive or you don't have a car, so how did you get here anyway, Elise?"

"I can drive but I was teleported here by my mother when I received news that I was going to accompany you guys."

"Makes sense...by the way, Fera, did you cause any trouble for her?"

Fera looked at her brother in the rearview mirror and told him, "No, but she did surprise us. Once she explained herself we relaxed."

Solis said nothing more and looked back at the road. From the city, the next destination they had planned on was going to be Fortress City, which was near the border of New Mexico and Texas. It would be a longer drive than last but even so, he wanted as little stops as possible. The trip would take a little over half a day and Solis was not looking forward to it. He was glad that the trip could be split between him, Lunis, and Elise.

It was now a good hour into their trip when Solis had some things he wanted to ask their new companion.

"Hey, Elise?"

She opened her eyes before she completely fell asleep," Yes Solis?"

"I didn't disturb you did I?"

"No, I was about to fall asleep but I'd be happy to help if you need something."

"Alright then if you don't mind, since you'll be traveling with us, I'd like to get to know you a bit."

"That's fine," she said without any hesitation.

"I understand that you're a new member of the Mages so I would like to know when did Eliza start to train you?"

"I started when I was five but great-grandmother didn't teach me herself, she asked my mom to do it while she oversaw it."

"How many stages are you into training then?"

"I finished up two years ago Solis," she said with a bit of pride in her chest.

"Two years ago? You must be a prodigy then Elise," said Solis with genuine surprise.

"I guess you can call me that but my older sister is even more incredible. Besides, even though I finished two years ago, I still need to practice the Ruin level techniques more."

"Well, I hope you master those, Elise. If you do, you could become a powerful mage comparable to even Eliza."

"Y-you think so?" she said with slight embarrassment.

"I believe you have the potential to. Now tell me this, do you have a special field in magic or alchemy?" he asked.

"I'm able to use magic and alchemy easily but I like the defensive aspects most."

"I'll keep that in mind. Could you tell me a little about your siblings then?"

"Of course. My eldest sister is being considered to become the next Progenitor of our organization and will soon have to present a new line of magic or alchemy. She's been involved with many missions and has completed all of them swiftly and efficiently. Overall, she's everything our organization hoped she would be."

"Do you look up to her, Elise?" asked Solis.

"I do, I aspire to be as great as her someday," she responded.

"I await your greatness, Elise. How about your younger siblings then?"

"My younger brother has just entered the third of five stages of training. He's a bit lazy and spoiled but when he wants something done, he'll do it by any means necessary. He's very aggressive when it comes to fighting and hates when my father forces him to practice his defensive magic."

"Sounds like something I could relate to," said Solis.

Ad reached over and smacked Solis's arm which made Solis chuckle.

"Do you have any more siblings then, Elise?" he continued.

"Yeah, my youngest sister."

"So is she old enough for training?" asked Solis.

"She's six right now so yes."

"Has your family noticed anything special from her yet?"

"From what we've seen so far, no," she told him.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know Solis?" she asked.

"No, but I'm sure I'll have more to ask in the future. Thank you for sharing with me Elise."

"Of course, Solis."

They went into silence again as Solis continued down the road. Elise watched as the landscape around them flew by and how the city they had just been in kept getting smaller and smaller. She had something she wanted to do but didn't know if she had the courage to act on it. She was hoping with how friendly Solis seemed to be she could just ask.

She did a countdown from three, in her head, before asking, "S-Solis!"

"Yes, Elise?" he replied.

"If you don't mind, c-could I get the chance to know you better as well?"

Solis took some time to think about his answer then he said, "I can't, not this time at least."

"O-oh, it's okay. I shouldn't have asked in the first place," she said nervously.

Elise felt very awkward after being turned down by Solis and Lunis could sense this. She wanted to reassure Elise that she did nothing wrong and told her, "Don't stress out too much, Elise. He isn't mad at you or anything, he just doesn't open up to anyone easily. I was just lucky enough to have known him since we were young, otherwise, I would probably only know as much as you do."

"I-is that so?" Elise said.

"Yeah, so you can just relax," and Lunis shot her a smile.

Elise felt more at ease and did as Lunis suggested. She went back watching the land go by them as they continued on.

They were now a solid three hours into their trip and had only made one stop so far. It was going smoothly until an all-black sedan pulled up behind them and started honking.

"Are you going too slow Solis?" asked Ad.

"No, I'm looking at the speedometer and we're just a little over the limit," Solis responded.

"Maybe he just wants to pass you?" suggested Fera.

"That's possible," then Solis stuck out his hand and made a gesture for the car to go ahead.

The car didn't pass them and kept honking, which started to annoy them.

Ad gave Solis another suggestion, "Maybe it's the police?"

"No, because if it was, their lights would be on," his brother retorted.

"I'll just pull off to the side of the road, maybe it'll give them more incentive to just go ahead."

Solis turned on his blinker and slowly started going right. As he went right, the car behind sped up and banged into their car, which made everyone lurch forward.

"Are these people crazy!?" yelled Ad.

With a a sudden realization Solis shouted back, "No, they're here for us! Damn, two in one day?!"

"Hurry! Pullover quickly!" screamed Fera.

Solis turned the steering wheel harshly to the right and went off the road. The black sedan followed them closely.

Solis tried to think of a way that everyone could get out of the car safely. The problem was that there were no trees or shrubbery in sight to hide behind. Instead, it was just miles of hills and mounds. Solis would have to do with what they had so he stepped on the gas and ramped off a nearby hill sending them into the air. Their car crashed onto the ground but was still on its wheels. The sedan, however, was not so successful. When they went off the hill, the nose of the car tipped downwards and made them nosedive into the ground.

With the black sedan's hood buried beneath the ground and smoking, Solis floored it and got out of there as fast as they could. While they drove away, Lunis told him to stop for a second.

"What are you doing?!" screamed Solis as he saw Lunis exit the car.

"We can't let you keep fighting Solis, if you do, the Great Ones will start to pinpoint us through your energy signature. Leave it to us since we can be more discreet."

Fera also hopped out of the car then told Solis, "Go take them away somewhere while we handle this, we'll be with you guys when we finish."

"But--" Solis tried to argue.

"Not the time Solis! Just do as we say!"

Fera slammed the door and ran to Lunis's side. Solis had no choice but to listen and put the car into drive and drove out of there.

Lunis and Fera slowly approached the wrecked sedan to check it out. As they got closer, the doors of the sedan opened. This prompted Lunis and Fera to jump back and ready themselves. They watched as four figures got out of the car.

From the driver's seat, it was a tall, massive man with rippling muscles and glistening brown skin. On the top of his head hung a headdress that resembled a bird's beak. The man also wore what seemed to be a type of tribal clothing. He had on a checkered shirt that was thin and all shades of red that looked tight on his expansive figure. He also wore sandy-colored pants that had wooden ornaments, which looked like birds, that hung off the side of them. On his hands were weapons that looked like brass knuckles but were made of wood.

Out from the passenger's seat was a man smaller in stature compared to the one before. He had a slimmer build, almost like a runner, and had on similar clothing to the man before. He too had glistening brown skin. This man had on a red cape-like piece of clothing that went down to his calves that had a design in the shape of a bird. He also didn't have any tattoos and had earrings that were shaped like a bird's tail feather. On his hip, was where a pair of small daggers hung.

From the back seat were two individuals that came out. One of them was an abnormally tall woman who was almost the same height as the muscular man. She had smooth, caramel skin with an extremely toned body that was rather curvaceous. She had long, flowing brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail. Her attire was different compared to the men, but was designed the same, as she had on a shirt that clung tightly to the top half of her body and left her toned abdomen exposed. Around her waist was a thin piece of white clothing that flowed behind her almost like a dress but left her legs exposed and she wore black leggings that went down towards her ankles. Her most defining piece of attire was the gold hairpiece that she had on her head which resembled a crown and had the sun in the middle of it.

The last person was a man with a chubby figure. He had a bald head but a long black beard. The man was the strangest of the four because he had no shirt on, which showed off his round figure and all of his tattoos. Instead of a shirt, he had a wooden necklace that held a pan flute. He also wore something similar to the woman as he also had a white cloth wrapped around his waist and instead of leggings were black board shorts. At his side hung a wooden mace that had engravings that resembled the design of his tattoos.

"Hey there pretty ladies!" shouted the chubby man.

Lunis and Fera didn't respond but instead took up fighting positions.

"Woah, relax pretty ladies," he continued undeterred by the hostility they showed, "we don't want to fight such pretty ladies, just show us where this 'Aurelios' person is and we can all head our merry ways."

"Don't say his name," snarled Fera, "You don't have the right to say it."

"Back down girl, you will not talk to my brother that way," threatened the tall woman.

The chubby man put a hand out and said, "Relax Ria, let's not act brashly."

"I'm sorry brother," then the tall woman backed away with her head down.

"Where are my manners? I'm sorry we haven't introduced ourselves. I am known and Pudge, the eldest of this group," he slapped his belly as he said his name.

Pudge went on and said, "This beauty right here is our gem, Ria," and pointed to the tall woman.

"Little slick over there is our third eldest, he's known as Ayar," he pointed over at the man with the runner's build.

"Finally, our big baby, just call him Tytan," and he pointed at the muscular man.

He looked back over at Lunis and Fera and told them, "We're the descendants of the sun god known as Inti! Now may I ask the names of the beauties before us?

They didn't respond and stayed silent.

"Don't be so stiff ladies, I'm not here for you-"

He was cut off by Lunis who tried to land a blow to his face. He rolled away while her fist was stopped by Ria.

"Whew, close one," Pudge said with a laugh.

His sister on the other hand was furious, "You dare strike our brother?!"

Ria, Ayar, and Tytan took up positions in front of Pudge and prepared to fight.

Ria yelled at them, "We'll kill you vermin!"

Fera fired back, "Don't say you'll do something when you don't have the ability to do it."

Ria's rage exploded and she launched herself at Fera.

Fera used partial transformation and caught Ria's face and smashed her into the ground.

Fera lowered her head and told Ria, "Arrogant fool. I'll teach you to fear the name Arcana."