The Truth, The Future (Part 2)

In the eyes of whom accepted many, Kari simply stared as a wash of relief flushed over her body. She then slowly walked closer,

letting this feeling subside. The mere sight of her brother had brought her near

tears. It was obvious that she hadn't seen him in such a long time. Filphen followed

behind, continuing to walk along with Kari. Though, it came to his attention

that not only Jolen had been there, but there were also clothes that he recognized to be from Louis. Of course, Kari had never met Louis, but Jilliace had told everything about him later on after Karia's passing. With the strong warning from their mother, Kari attempted to reason with Jilliace that Louis

was a bad man. Although Kari felt a sudden grab from Filphen, looking back in

great confusion. Filphen simply stared at the clothes in fear, tightly gripping onto Kari's wrist. She recognized this and immediately stopped walking, slowly turning her head back to face Jolen, who had vanished. Her eyes widened as she felt a cold chill rush down her spine. Her body shivered, realizing this feeling was not that of a normal state, but of a vampire. Filphen quickly ducked and pulled Kari down with him, falling onto the ground. A sharp swing was heard in the air above them and a shadow peered down. Kari looked up to see Louis, a man who was still only heard of from Jilliace and a great warning from Karia. The hooded figure that was to be him, crouched to stare her down, along with Filphen.

"What are you pests doing in my territory?" He snarled at the two, with a very intimidating stare. "The only 'human' I should be smelling is Jolen, but I smell one of the witch's dogs and his pathetic little sister!"

Kari quickly turned her body toward Filphen,

rolling as she barely dogged his second swing. Louis was too much for the both of them to handle, yet Kari had something in mind that would help. She thought back to the times she had dedicated to reading about spells and their incantations. With this knowledge she had attempted to use magic back then, but now was her true test in defense. Kari plucked out two flowers from the ground and almost immediately blew them into Louis' face, creating a burning sensation to flow in the wind. Filphen watched as the air became a sudden patch of flames, burning the flowers, along with Louis. Kari had proceeded to sit there, processing what she'd just done, but Filphen yanked her arm to quit this frozen state of hers. The two rose from the ground, watching Louis fall as his screams echoed throughout the forest. As the evening continued, Jilliace heard the

screams from far away. In the heat of panic, she recognized it as Louis, knowing this; she ran.

"Lady Jilliace!" Rol ran after her, confused as

to why she was going after the sounds of danger. "Lady Jilliace, Wait!"

"Louis!" Jilliace yelped out as her legs acted

on their own, speedily running into the horrifying view. "… Louis…?"

"AAAHHHGGG!" Louis was seen rolling around into the dirt, putting out this sudden fire that continued to burn his regenerating

flesh. Louis' breaths were short, panting each time before another scream exited his painful lungs.

As Jilliace wanted to run once more, a quick

grab from behind stopped her entirely. Rol pulled her back, running the opposite direction where Kari and Filphen had been hidden. Jilliace looked back as she was involuntarily running away from the one who she felt a deep connection to, desperate to see him after so long. Although that feeling of her's changed in such a short period, she felt a sudden dread flush over as Louis was seen

again in the distance. His face of course was back to normal, but the expression was of a murderous rage. Jilliace, instead of leaning forward, she attempted to back away, pulling the others as well. She had grabbed their attention, unaware that Louis was then running over to the four. Kari quickly turned and held her arms up, creating a tall and wide pink tinted wall to separate them from Louis. They were still able to see each other due to the little transparency. Their voices were also very clear to be heard from each side, all four hearing Louis cursing them out. His face and actions still shown the great contrast between them as his eyes darted each of them, especially Jilliace.

"You are probably just like your sister, a

witch… but how is she the one with more power over you?" Louis slowly grinned

as his hand pounded onto the wall once more. "You have no power, do you? The

mere fact that you cower behind the others is proof enough, like another pest."

Jilliace turned away, in great shame of herself. Rol and Filphen looked at her, watching tears fall down her cheeks and felt the shaking against their shoulders. Kari continued to look at Louis, keeping her arms high up, to not diminish the sort of sheild. "Where is Jolen?!" Kari yelled out, barely catching Louis' attention. She repeated her words and finally was finally faced as she stood to his level.

"Jolen is on his way to join my clan, while I

stall you all from bringing him to the imaginary goddess, he doesn't need to know she exists." Louis grinned even more, creating a villainous smile to grow on his face. "I heard all about your plan to make him a god, it's futile, he would never meet up to your expectations. I will make sure of that."

"You are wrong about my brother!!" Kari yelled, furious that her own blood was spat on by a vampire. "You know nothing but hatred and despair! If you had ought to love my sister, you should preach your love instead of ridicule her like you see us all as swine."

"Of course I do, which is why all is set in

stone…" Louis backed away with a large grin flowing throughout his smile.

"…. No!" Kari then realized that behind Louis

was a figure that had the shape of her brother but the fangs of a vampire.

As Louis backed off, Jolen walked to the four

still behind the wall. Kari trembled in the sight of this, had her brother not been the one she would see this differently, unfortunately it was so. Still within the grounds of the glimmering forest; the air thickened with magical lights while the sky grew dim. The moon-lit the trees and the howls of the wind swept by just as Kari's magic began to fail her. She trembled and even Jolen noticed the wall slowly vanishing. Although, before anyone had been able to continue, they had all been frozen as a light descended from the sky. A calming and

familiar voice was heard, feeling a soft touch behind Kari's back. She was then able to move again but the touch calmed her body, feeling at peace rather than with fear. Jolen had been touched the same and the confusion in his body was taken away. He could see clearly once more as the vampire blood had been cured out by the goddess herself. Hyrestia was seen above, by the turned heads of Kari and Jolen, she spoke to them with grace and care. Kari knew what she'd been speaking of, but Jolen was still confused and questioned her existence.

The offer still stood of course, and Kari explained this as plainly as she

could.

"Opinions, Brother?" Kari finished off her fill,

letting Jolen decide their fate.

It took him a moment to fully sink in this

situation, though he eventually came to a sure conclusion. "I do not see why we should… but there must be a meaning behind this happening, so I will go along with this. If it means doing the work of gods, then let this blessing be

fulfilled."

Kari's face beamed with a smile of pure joy, as

Jilliace' had done the same after the goddess unfroze her. With Jolen back, Hyrestia proceeded to fulfil the offer she gave upon the three together. Jolen was first, as the goddess tapped his forehead, his body levitated off the ground and shined in a golden light. Then Jilliace right after, tapped and levitated with a deep blue light. Kari stared in awe, awaiting her turn, but Hyrestia

told her to wait, for she was the last and most special for this event. Jolen's clothes were then changed like magical liquid forming into his skin, he was let down to the ground. He was then wearing a long black button coat with golden lining. It was very out of their usual medieval style but then Jilliace was let down as well. Her clothes had been transformed into a long dark blue dress imbedded with multiple light roses from the ground up. It was beautiful, but then Kari and

Jolen noticed that her hair was also the same color. Their hair was normally too frizzy to handle as well, but her hair had been placed into straightened curls, along with Jolen. His hair was shorter, yet it looked straight, like the women with long blonde hair at the churches. Hyrestia then went over to Kari, shrinking

herself to fit the height of a human. She slowly walked over to Kari as her long flowing dress passed the other two. Still, there were Rol and Filphen watching in their frozen states, even Louis from a safe distance. As soon as Hyrestia's finger tapped Kari's forehead, her mind went blank and was slowly filled with multiple of visions and memories that were not her own. Her eyes immediately shut as others had seen her body floating in the air in a strong pink light. This was oddly overwhelming at first until her eyes opened once more. She felt at peace, her body seemed unchanged. She glanced to Jolen and Jilliace who were staring with shocked expressions. Hyrestia stood between them, smiling proud in her new look. She'd then gestured her hands to create a mirror out of thin air, waving her hands toward Kari.

"My…" Kari was too shocked to speak, as were the others. "… my…" She stared into the mirror, lightly touching her hair and skin.

Kari trembled, still in awe of how different

this made her. Her long black hair was no more, but a light pink color, even the same for her eyes. The dress the once wore was also gone, replaced by a beautiful white and pink gown, embedded with flowers as well. Then, Hyrestia had looked up to the sky, where the tree branches had covered. Pointing, she

gestured as she spoke to the three.

"Your home is now up within the new council, yet I will not be able to guide you unless you are to contact me through the Glimmering Forest." Hyrestia slowly lowered her arm and faced Kari, walking to her. The mirror vanished in front, and she gently held her hands. "My mission for you is to follow the note your mother gave you, then you follow your heart after you begin." Looking to the other two once more, to Jolen. "Jolen, you are now the God of Destruction, your power is destruction itself, to tear away and manipulate objects you encounter. Jilliace, you are now the Goddess of Judgment, your power is to use your judgement to guide others into the right direction in life." Then turning again to Kari, properly facing her. "Kari, you are now the Goddess of Love, your power is within your heart. You control the fate of this universe and the people within it. The amount of power you wield is greater

than the one who seeks to destroy us." She continued to hold tightly onto Kari's hands.

"Destroy?" Kari quickly came back to her own

senses. "What do you mean?"

"The Goddess of Hate, Yushvi." Hyrestia let out a long-disappointed sigh. "With these powers I have given the three of you, you

must keep guard and find a way to stop her from spreading her impurities. In truth, she had been the leader of the new council once, but then she was banished into her shadow realm, and still her plans are not foiled with."

Hyrestia's presence had almost looked shattering, slowly disappearing in their view. "P-Plea- fulfil this- importan-"

As quick as she came, she was gone, and the

strong light from the sky had vanished as well. Leaving the others unfrozen, Rol and Filphen quickly stood to meet their eye level. They all turned to each other, still vaguely processing what had just happened. Kari sensed something was wrong as soon as she turned to them, then glanced everywhere else. Louis was then nowhere to be seen. She attempted to look behind her again, and had

seen him in a flash, jumping onto her back. She felt a strong sense of pain in her neck as Louis dug his fingers into her shoulders. Kari yelped in pain while Jolen almost instantly pulled him away, tossing his body into a tree trunk. Kari shuddered, kneeling to the ground as her hand made contact with the blood

dripping down her neck. Her skin suddenly felt cold, trembling as she felt others helping her stay standing. Louis was known to be very contentious during his time throughout the years spent together with Jolen and Jilliace, though this was far from it. Jolen was very angered with seeing his youngest sister in such a painful state, remembering Louis doing the exact same to him. He attempted to make Kari a vampire if not Jolen, seeing that she was much more important now that the Goddess had chosen her to change the fate of the world. Though this simply did not affect Kari as much as expected. She was healing a

lot quicker than anyone had anticipated, easily rising along with the arms that held her up. The blood that was drizzling alongside her neck had quickly run dry, and her pierced skin seeped up the blood, closing the wound on its own. The others simply stared as her eyes widened and her body felt even lighter than

before.

"Jolen, brother, let him go." Kari stared at the

two as they were still at the tree, Jolen keeping Louis pinned down. "I can take him."

"No, he hurt you." Jolen's voice groveled at the topic and began to choke Louis as he was barely able to breath in his grasp.

Kari proceeded to quickly walk towards the two and placed her hand over Jolen's shoulder. Her grip was slightly firm as Jolen

realized that she was very serious about this. He then released his hands from Louis, allowing Kari to get closer. Louis could finally breathe once more, panting as his body was slowly falling to the ground, but stopped by Kari's hands holding his head. Louis was too exhausted from the impact of Jolen, then having to deal with Kari as well was even more excruciating, even while she was slightly squeezing his cranium. Louis placed his hands where hers were, trying to pull

them away. Kari began to mumble another incantation as his head felt like it was heating up. Louis realized this quickly, even trying more to move around, bringing her arms up. Kari held a firm grasp as she continued the incantation, proceeding to slowly burn him, digging into his skull. Louis yelped and screamed out in indescribable pain. Kari simply stared into his bulging eyes as he continued to express his immensely painful experience. With this suspicion of Louis' weakness, it was confirmed that fire had been correct. Kari's eyes herself had gone fully pink, glowing because of the amount of magic being used with the intent to kill. Filphen quickly noticed this and called out to Kari, attempting to stop this. Although he did not know what Kari had recently learned about Louis. Due to the darkness of his attire, it was easy to guess that he was not that of a normal person, more of a dark and entitled being, a vampire at best guess. Vampires were not known to be out in the bright light of course, Louis had royal blood, meaning

he was capable of being exposed to the sun and to make any other race into a vampire. What Louis did to have angered Kari so much was far more troubling to herself than the others had expected. Filphen continued to speak to Kari, knowing she was not even listening. Kari's attention was glued to murdering Louis, to finally take revenge.

"Kari!" Jolen yelled out her name, grabbing her arms and pulling her away from Louis' almost burnt head. The screams continued to

escape Louis even after all the pain he was enduring.

"He must die for what he did to our family!"

Kari's strength was barely able to keep her from detaching off of Louis. "He is the reason why we were put as slaves." With each sentence Kari increased the input in her magic, worsening the burns. "He is the reason why Mother's father was killed and the reason why the rest of our deceased aunts were never to be known!" Although her magic was strong, Kari was getting overwhelmed with this, even lightheaded due to overexerting her powers. "I must… take…"

Filphen immediately leaped and tackled Kari, rolling their bodies onto the side of the tree. She was finally at her peak of exhaustion, unable to resist their attempts to stop her. Jolen looked at the two on the ground and then back to Louis, who was still screaming, but finally healing as he squat down towards the ground. He panted and took deep breaths, grinning as he looked up to Jolen, rising from his temporary deduction of

movement.

"You are probably thinking that I deserved that, only if you'd been able to do it yourself." He let out a chuckle and switched his attention toward Jilliace. "Do you still think you are worthy of being here, or do you want to go and cry like you'd done not too long ago?" He wiped away at his face, waiting for the top of his head to continue regenerating.

"Jilliace has already recognized the demon that derives from you and your wicked bloodline. I pray that we never meet again

after this…" Jolen closed his eyes for a moment and held his hand up, facing his palm to Louis. "But you have done enough damage to my plans." Jolen opened his eyes to see a satisfying sight, Louis with a gaping hole in his stomach and the tree behind him.

Jilliace stared in utter shock and disbelief,

stepping backwards and turning her body. Kari was still pinned by Filphen, unable

to move regardless of him stopping her. Filphen himself turned to see what the sudden crackling noise to see the same sight of Louis, then falling to his side. Rol, behind everyone reacted the same and kept quiet as they had seen Louis slowly look at Jolen and then barely walking away, just behind the trees. The day began as a search to find Jolen and ended in the witness of Louis be

freed by him, even as the enemy. They had spent hours outside within the glimmering forest, letting themselves rest before heading anywhere so soon. Kari was able to rest against a tree and woke up with the same memory of Louis, as she had eventually passed out after Filphen tackled her. She gasped for air as her heart raced at the thoughts running around her mind. The others had seen her rise from the rough and cursed look she had on her face. Jilliace ran over, helping her up, worried why her skin looked so pale as well.

"Kari…" Jilliace touched her forehead after

getting her to barely stand straight. She gasped and turned to the others, with no response from Kari. "She has a high fever! Please, we must go back to the manor!"

Jolen shot up from his sitting area and

refrained himself from walking to the two. "We… are not humans anymore, Jilliace. Do you remember that the Goddess told us that our homes lie within the heavens now." He turned to the other two who had stuck around with their loyalty. "Rol, Filphen, you must return and let the others know about this."

"But, Jolen." Rol stepped forward, trying to

make sense of everything. "We cannot return without any of you. It would be defying the laws of our loyalty seal, especially to Kari. You understand that she is still the lead Lady within the Shiarama household. We can only agree to returning with Kari."

"I can return…" Kari's voice was dry and quiet

until she was able to raise her head, finally looking at the two. "We will all return to the manor, and… rest…" Just until her last words, Kari had yet again fallen unconscious.

Jolen sighed and walked to her, letting Jilliace

release her as Kari was picked up by him. They went back to their horses and carried each other back to the main manor, allowing Kari's body to properly rest. Yet again with these strange appearances, the household servants were given rumors to spread. They all gathered in wonder and concern for what could have happened to the three, questioning both Rol and Filphen. Rol would have spoken the most on the part, but Filphen suggested to keep quiet about it unless Kari allowed it to be known. Jolen felt odd to be back in the main house, looking at his oddly clean room. The servants were continuously dusting and organizing every nook and cranny of the manor, so it was not exactly surprising in the least. Although, the memories of his separated family did nag at his heart, wondering why he had the itching notion to leave in the first place. What

Kari also mentioned about Louis having such impacts on the family bloodline also made him think thoroughly, because he'd already known them to be true. Jolen spent his time in study, almost locked inside his own room to focus on his new powers as a god. Jilliace spent her personal time within Kari's room, helping keep watch along with Lillian taking care of her fever. The night seeped in cold, and they would all remember this day, the beginning of their new lives as part of

the God race.