34 Helping Kristen

----- (Liana) "Wait. What exactly are you going to do?" -----

Lillian froze for a moment and Liana immediately knew she was hiding something. She looked at Kristen for an answer, but the look on her face told Liana she wouldn't get anything out of her.

(Liana) "So… are you ever going to tell me what is going on?"

She actually had an inkling of what was going to happen but she wanted Lillian to tell her herself. Lillian hesitated and glanced at Kristen, but quickly brought her gaze back to Liana's.

(Lillian) "I'm just going to go over to help them with the problem with the Sunstone Kingdom."

Liana raised an eyebrow, knowing there was more to it if Kristen reacted like that. Kristen sighed and gave in.

(Kris) "It's not easy to explain, but basically what she's going to do is use the soul-connection we have to take my place in battle."

Liana's eyes widened slightly, remembering the injury Lillian still had, and she didn't even obtain it directly. Her concerned eyes met Lillian's blank ones and she jerked back slightly in shock. She hadn't seen that look in Lillian's eyes in… ever.

(Liana) "I'm sorry. I just… I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Lillian lowered her head slightly before looking back up at Liana, her expression and emotions still blank.

(Lillian) "There's one more way to do it that has a higher chance of me not getting injured."

Both Kris and Liana turned to her with their eyebrows raised.

(Lillian) "I can use a mass spell that will eliminate anyone from the Sunstone Kingdom that is in support of attacking and taking over the Vayithen Empire. It's not a solid spell and will definitely miss some people whose intentions aren't that obvious, but it will be more effective and a safer option than the previous one."

Liana gave her a sceptical look.

(Liana) "Is that even possible?"

Kris laughed slightly as she said,

(Kris) "Alex can do pretty much anything if it comes to magic. If you haven't already discovered that, you haven't spent enough time around her."

Liana gave Kris an odd look, but it faded before she noticed it. Lillian considered the statement before saying,

(Lillian) "Another option is I can change their thoughts to not want to attack the Empire but that one would take more effort."

She said the sentence with a very matter-of-fact tone, as if she hadn't just suggested manipulating a whole kingdom's worth of people's thoughts. Kris face palmed herself and said,

(Kris) "At least she didn't suggest wiping out the whole kingdom."

Lillian shrugged.

(Lillian) "That would be too troublesome and would send the whole world into chaos for at least a few months to years."

The way Lillian spoke told both Kris and Liana that she had actually considered it.

(Liana's thoughts) 'Lillian is the smartest person I know but she somehow can come up with the most absurd ideas. Though, I think she could actually execute these ideas.'

(Kris) "Let's just stick with your first idea, okay?"

Liana nodded.

(Liana) "The one that doesn't require you to manipulate about a hundred thousand people's thoughts."

She remembered something and turned to Kris.

(Liana) "Aren't you allied with the Agriwen Kingdom though?"

Kris nodded.

(Kris) "The Agriwen Kingdom is known for their mages and magic wielders, and they have sent a considerable number of soldiers to help but the Sunstone Kingdom keeps pushing us back. As of now, I have requested the King of the Agriwen Kingdom to hold back on sending more reinforcements for a while."

(Liana) "Why?"

Kris frowned as she replied,

(Kris) "Although their men are always posted closer to the back lines, surrounded by my men on all sides, the number of casualties from them are too high. I don't want to risk putting them in any more danger, unless I really need to."

Liana nodded, not questioning Kristen's method of leading her Empire. They both turned back to Lillian and raised their eyebrows when they noticed she had leaned back on the headboard of the bed with her eyes closed. Lillian lifted her head and opened her eyes before saying softly,

(Lillian) "Robyn is on her way up here."

Liana gave her a quizzical look, asking the question both her and Kris wanted to ask,

(Liana) "Why?"

Lillian smiled slightly and said,

(Lillian) "If she helps, I can prevent any chance of missing someone."

It was then that Kris remembered one of Lillian's skills.

(Kris) "Lex has the ability to borrow someone else's skill for a certain amount of time. Though it's technically not borrowing it and more of sharing it since the person with the skill originally can still use the skill."

She said the last part more to herself than anything, but at the same time pointing out a fact and answering Liana's question before she could ask it.

*

There was a knock on the door and Lillian called out just loud enough for the person outside of the door to hear,

(Lillian) "Come in."

The door opened and Robyn entered the room silently, closing the door behind her. She noticed them all sitting on the bed and bowed slightly to Kris as Lillian said,

(Lillian) "Robyn, this is Kristen, Kristen, Robyn. Though I really don't need to do this since you both know who the other is by now."

Kris nodded and said as she moved to make space for Robyn,

(Kris) "I'm just known as Kristen here… the one you should actually be bowing to is Liana here."

Liana was not worried that both of them knew who and what position she was, but rather she was more curious as to how they found out in the first place, since she knew Lillian didn't tell them.

(Lillian) "Robyn has a skill that allows her to see through any disguise and thus is able to see a person's true identity. Kris has the ability to tell which family a person is from and what position they have in it."

Liana blushed lightly as she realised Lillian had heard her question. Robyn and Kris merely nodded, used to Lillian answering questions that weren't voiced. Although what they didn't know was that Lillian wasn't reading Liana's mind, but rather using their bond to hear her thoughts.

(Robyn) "So how are we going to do this?"

Lillian shrugged. Robyn sighed and asked,

(Robyn) "Do you even have a plan?"

Lillian nodded, still not saying anything. Robyn realised what she was doing and didn't bother her any longer, instead turning to Liana and Kris.

(Robyn) "I feel left out. I'm the only one without some kind of link to a throne."

Kris raised an eyebrow, not expecting Robyn to know about that. She understood why she knew about Liana and herself, but Lillian's link to a throne wasn't so obvious. In fact, it was probably one of the most obscure things there was.

(Robyn) "I haven't known Lillian for as long as you have, but I have spent a lot of time with her."

Robyn knew the question Kristen wanted to ask and decided to answer it before she asked.

(Liana) "I'm starting to think anyone with any relation to Lillian is abnormal."

Kris laughed and said,

(Kris) "You realise you just included yourself in that, right?"

Robyn nodded.

(Robyn) "In fact, you should be the most abnormal one. You're the one with the direct link to her."

Liana covered her face with her hand.

(Liana) "Exactly. The more time I spend with her the less normal I feel."

Kristen and Robyn both laughed as Liana groaned softly.

(Lillian) "Got it!"

Lillian raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of her. She was focusing on coming with a plan that would have the highest chance of succeeding and wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her, as she had closed her eyes to concentrate better, and when she opened her eyes this was the first thing she saw.

At her exclamation, the three girls turned back to her, pretending they hadn't just been discussing how Lillian affects everyone around her.

(Robyn) "Are you going to tell us or…?"

(Lillian) "Oh! Right."

*

She explained her plan to them, after which Robyn asked,

(Robyn) "Are you going to do it now, then?"

Lillian nodded.

(Lillian) "It's better to do it before anything else happens."

They all agreed and Kristen said,

(Kris) "Then I'll meet you there in five minutes."

She then hugged Lillian before disappearing.

(Liana) "Can we go with you? At least to watch?"

Robyn nodded, adding,

(Robyn) "Besides, we have nothing to do here. We just need to let Liz and Ruby know we won't be around for the rest of the day, which I'm sure they'll be pleased about."

Lillian hesitated, glancing from Robyn to Liana. She sighed softly before saying,

(Lillian) "Fine. Since you're going, we'll just do everything there."

They were originally supposed to do the first phase of their plan before Lillian went over to the Vayithen Empire, but she decided since she was going to bring Robyn over they'd just do it there.

She contacted Liz through mind-link.

(Lillian, through mind-link to Liz) "Liz, we'll be going out for a while, so you and Ruby will be on your own at least till dinner. If we're not back by then, tell Anne to keep our food separately, we'll eat when we come back."

(Liz, through mind link to Lillian) "Sure. Be safe."

Even through the spell, Lillian could feel Liz's excitement. She shook her head with a smile on her face as she cut the spell. Her bond with her sister was hard to fathom, and even harder to put into words.

(Lillian) "Alright. Let's go."

She held out her two hands, signalling for Robyn and Liana to take one each, then hold hands with each other, creating a small circle. She then teleported them straight into Kristen's bedroom.

(Kristen) "That was fast."

She didn't even question why Robyn and Liana were there, knowing that they were inevitably going to ask Lillian to bring them along.

(Lillian) "Let's start."

Lillian and Robyn sat down on the floor next to Kristen's bed. Liana and Kristen both moved onto the bed, since they were unable to do anything for this phase of the plan. Lillian and Robyn linked their hands in between both of them. A few seconds later, a soft glow enveloped the both of them. Three minutes later, the glow disappeared and Lillian and Robyn stood up.

(Kristen) "Why did it take so long this time?"

Lillian smiled.

(Lillian) "It's more effective if I take my time to analyse and understand it before borrowing it."

Kristen nodded.

(Lillian) "We should go."

(Liana) "Are we allowed to go for this part?"

Lillian glanced at Kristen and sighed before nodding. Both Liana and Robyn grinned as Kristen chuckled softly.

*

Lillian grasped Liana's hand lightly, and Liana's eyes widened as she felt a spell settle over her. She then recognized it as a disguise spell and knew Lillian was only looking out for her. While the Vayithen Empire and the Adrenian Empire were not enemies, it still wouldn't be good if someone recognized her as the Princess and Heir of the Adrenian Empire. Kristen snapped her fingers and they were on the wall of the border between the Vayithen Empire and the Sunstone Kingdom. They got onto a small platform and Kristen snapped her fingers again. The platform shot upwards, but it was so smooth that if their eyes were closed, they wouldn't even know that they were moving upwards. Robyn realised there was a spell over the platform that allowed for this.

(Kristen) "Is this high enough?"

Lillian looked in the direction of the Sunstone Kingdom for a moment, then nodded. She then lowered her hand onto the platform, expanding it.

(Lillian) "Go about fifteen metres or more away from me."

The three did not complain and followed Lillian's instructions. When Lillian saw that they were far away enough, she cast a protective spell over them before turning back to face the Sunstone Kingdom. She could see the other border of the Sunstone Kingdom from where she was standing.

*

Lillian first activated the skill that she had borrowed from Robyn, mixing it with a couple of other spells, thus targeting specific people. It was only after this was done, then she started her spell. Cupping her hands in front of her, a ball of magic formed in between her hands. The ball expanded and expanded, and as it expanded, the higher Lillian floated. When she thought it was powerful enough, Lillian released the spell at about fifty metres from the platform. A shockwave ran through the entire Sunstone Kingdom, killing millions of people. Lillian exhausted her energy forming the spell and fell rapidly back towards the platform.

(Liana and Robyn) "LILLIAN!!" (Kristen) "ALEX!!"

All three of them froze momentarily in shock when Lillian started dropping. Liana was the first to recover, but while her body refused to listen to her, her real power came to light. Hundreds of birds flew towards Lillian and caught her, lowering her towards the platform and into Liana's arms slowly. Liana had run over and was now standing in the spot Lillian had started her spell in. Kristen and Robyn ran over as well, their minds reeling from the display of power Liana had just displayed over the birds.

Kristen remembered a section of the prophecy she had seen before:

[The Fire Queen's daughter a Master of beasts.]