Chapter 12
October 28, 11 AF – Lotus Gardens – 1950 hours
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The wind is angry…
It is shaking with rage…
It is furious as if it's being disturbed and controlled…
Danger …
Yuzuriha Mika had always been sensitive to the forces of the Earth. She was known as a child prodigy from the East in her youth but as she grew up, her control over spirits grew faint. Due to the disappointment of her family and relatives, she was sent to the Philippines to study in a respectable institution. But that was just the guise of it, they just wanted to get rid of her and simply didn't want to see her anymore. She was staying with her grandfather who was a Blank being born in a time way before the Re-Generation event. She felt sad about her parents for discarding people they deem useless, even if they were family.
But regardless of being deemed "useless" or "weak", tonight was different. She could feel the wind howling in pain as the spirits were being manipulated and twisted. Much to her chagrin, she had no idea whether she could do anything. But she took this opportunity to test her abilities once more and focused.
A large shadow…
No… not just a shadow… a plane…
One… three… No, seven…
Seven figures around the plane…
Starting to find difficulty in maintaining her stance, she started to scrunch up her forehead in pain. But she was more curious now. She focused again, this time towards the event.
Four in the clouds, three in the plane…
Same time – Silenus – Philippine Airspace
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This is bad… Russell thought as they were losing altitude. The aircraft was using state-of-the-art hybrid energy cells, so the mere fact that they were losing power was unbelievable. Unless the energy cell was directly being siphoned which meant that their enemy has already infiltrated the core. That fact alone sent shivers down his spine. "We're losing altitude! Someone's interfering with the generator!" he shouted into the microphone of the P.A. system.
The enemies in front of him was unexpected as it was the pilot and co-pilot he had conversed with earlier. However, the two were normal humans that did not possess any magical power. The enemies in front of him had magically-enhanced bodies and had been moving in a way that would cause a normal human's joints, muscles, and bones to break, thus their bodies also had to be maintained with immediate self-reparation magic. "So that's how you're doing it." Gregory said under his breath as he dodged the enemies' inhuman attacks. "Possession, and you're using the generator to maintain such a high-level of control." All of that required a large amount of power to do so. "Seems like I won't be able to get pass the two of you too easily."
Another bolt of lightning hit the craft and this time it was able to do some damage as fire soon erupted from one of the wings. Meanwhile, Laura and Erin were running towards the generator. Laura thought of sending Baros ahead to dispatch the enemy, however… "My lady, as it saddens me to admit, this magician is currently powerful enough to take control of my corporeal form, summoning me and separating will be a great disadvantage to you." Baros said in Laura's mind. Which is why they were rushing ahead themselves. The lights were weak due to the power loss and they had to focus on their surroundings and whereabouts.
"Lady Laura, we take the right next!" Erin shouted.
As they turned at the corner, bodies of the several servants and staff they brought with them lay on the floor. Some obviously had no chance to be alive anymore and they could hear pained breathing from a few. Erin quickly inspected them and Laura approached the only conscious person she could see.
"Who did this to you?" Laura asked.
"… cloaked…" he painfully said.
Bind. Laura used her spell to apply pressure to his wounds and prevent any more blood loss. As she was tending to the man's wounds, his eyes suddenly filled with panic and pushed Laura aside. Surprised by his actions, she quickly looked back and saw a silhouette of what looks like a cloaked figure with a spear in hand, in which the spear was lodged into the servant she was tending to. "Loyal dog to the end."
He withdrew the weapon from the corpse and what was just an outline of a figure suddenly disappeared. Being in an alarmed state, Laura was waiting for an attack by the figure when Erin suddenly jumped in front of her and struck at the space in front of Laura. The cloaked figure showed up again using the spear to block Erin's attack. "My lady, go on ahead and leave this to me!"
"As if I'd let you!" the cloaked figure shouted as he pushed Erin back and swung in a large arc towards Laura. However, she had already disappeared in an instant and showed up behind Erin. "Get rid of him quick and tend to the wounded. I won't forgive you if you fail."
"Yes, my lady." Erin replied. With that, Laura quickly bolted off towards the direction of the generator room.
"Shadow Movement… the Silenus family is indeed a descendant of the Shadow Clan." The cloaked figure said.
"Yes… now, where were we?" Erin said as her eyes glowed dark red.
Same time – Outside NWI
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"That old timer really doesn't know restraint." John murmured as he walked out towards the waiting shed. The rain was strong and he could see multiple streaks of lightning in the sky. He was in the shed waiting for the bus taking out a packet of cigarettes when the lightning caught his attention. The lightning was more or less in the same part of the sky as if it was being directed to that certain area. Then he saw it, a descending black plane. He immediately recognized it. It was the Silenus family jet. "You've gotta be kidding me…"
A few minutes earlier – Callie's Mall
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"This is one strong rain," Ethan said. They were in the foodcourt when he started to hear the heavy rain through the thick glass roof over the food court. The lightning was fierce too, however he could barely hear it inside with so many people talking coupled with the ambient music as well. They had decided upon eating local cuisine, which was rice and a beef stock-based soup called bulalo.
"This soup is so good with the cold weather!" Allen exclaimed. Ethan and Moon bumped into Allen as they were in the cashier counter and alongside the conversation, Moon had invited Allen and Anne, if possible, to eat dinner with them. "Our parents don't like to eat any of the local cuisine so this is the first time we've tasted this." Anne said.
"Anyway, we were under impression you guys just met but you went out of your way to help the new transfer student on her shopping trip." Allen said ignoring his sister's comment. "I don't think I've seen you bend yourself over other than for your own interests in the two years I've known you Ethan."
"Don't misunderstand. I agreed to this on behalf of my mother and John's request." Ethan replied. Moon didn't react and was enjoying herself on the food before her.
"Though you should call him Mr. Rivers now that he's officially an instructor at the university." Anne said.
"I guess so." Ethan said. As they were chatting along, they felt an explosion and the lights suddenly went out. Almost everyone in the foodcourt exclaimed in shock. Some children's cries also started. "A blackout?" Moon asked.
"No, that shouldn't be possible. This mall has its own power grid and runs on a hybrid generator." Ethan said. After a few seconds, the lights came back but died again as soon as it came on. Emergency lights filled the mall and the P.A. started blaring.
"Due to an unexpected power failure, we are asking you to please vacate the mall in a calm manner to prevent any possible incident. For those who cannot vacate, our management will provide temporary aid." The same announcement repeated itself again and again. Everyone in the mall including Ethan and the rest proceeded to follow the P.A.'s instruction. They tried opening up their mobile terminals but the connection was down. Once outside, Allen helped Ethan load the stuff they bought into the SUV. The rain was unbelievably strong and even with barriers held up they could not avoid getting wet so they quickly went in the vehicle. "We haven't had rain this strong for a while now." Allen complained.
"This was just supposed to be a low-pressure area but it's more like a tropical storm now. Something's happening." Ethan said.
"Yeah, and if you guys weren't here, Anne and I would have been stranded in the mall." Allen said as Ethan started to drive.
In the back seat was Moon and Anne, shivering for some reason. "Are you alright, Anne?" Moon asked.
"Yeah, I just feel tingly for some reason. Don't worry about me hehe." Anne said with a smile. "I've also been getting a tingly feeling ever since we got out of the mall," Allen said. "It must have something to do with the power outage."
"The air had electrically-charged amions, I thought I was imagining it since the two of you haven't reacted yet." Ethan said.
"What do you mean, haven't reacted yet?" Moon asked.
"Well… we're supers." Allen replied. "And our bodies can create, channel and conduct electricity."
"Since we're also twins, our abilities are almost exactly the same." Anne remarked. "One of the differences is that while I'm more sensitive to it, Allen is less."
"I see… so that means that," Moon realized. "This storm isn't natural?"
"Yeah… and that plane must have something to do with it." Ethan mentioned. In the distance they could see a black carrier jet with burning wings slowly losing altitude. It's estimated crash course, the 7th residential district including Silverwood Estates.
Same Time – Silenus – Above the residential districts
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Nimbly dodging the possessed pilots' attacks, Gregory Silenus kept waiting for an opening to strike back. However, even if he was able to attack, his enemies recovered too quickly as well as his openings keep getting less and less. He also had to consider not to make any irreparable damage to the pilots. This is one hell of a manipulator…
"Then what about this!" BIND! A quick incantation that used shadows to suppress and envelop the pilots. However, before being completely suppressed, the pilot dropped a canister that released a burst of light. Gregory quickly knew what it was and shielded his eyes. "A flashbang?!" The shadow-based spell was quickly repelled and the attackers continued their assault. They weren't even blinded?!
For a moment, he was able to look at the eyes of his attackers and he noticed, they were indeed blinded. So it isn't possession, huh? A puppeteer with his eyes elsewhere?
Detect. A sonar-like ability that uses amions to show the presence of any physical or magical being in a distance. Then he noticed a small presence behind him, much like a small mouse. There you are…
Gonna have to do a little feint… He started the incantation at the same time dodging the enemy, "Like the burning of a warrior's rage and the lover's passion, I call upon the power of Igni to seek my enemies and strike them true. Flame Needle!" He jumped back and the burning bolts of fire flew forward, the puppets proceeded to dodge, but the arrows flew back to behind Gregory and struck the small-animal presence behind him.
When the small presence was eliminated the puppets stopped moving a distance away from him. "Heh, can't really do anything without seeing what's happening huh?" Gregory said thinking he had the victory.
"Guardian of the innocent, Oh loving God, I beseech thee to block this path…" the puppets started evoking words of power as if they were mages. Crap, this is bad… they're going to block me off…
He rushed forward but he knew he wouldn't make it. "…wall of the savior, protect me from my ene…" The puppets stopped and fell to the ground.
"What the…" Gregory wondered. "…they stopped, meaning someone got to the puppeteer…
Laura, huh?
"Who do you think you are, messing with my family jet?" Laura asked.
Another cloaked figure, this time she can clearly see the enemy unlike the invisible assailant from earlier. The enemy faced Laura, taking her hands off the generator. "If it isn't the lady of the Silenus family, and leader of the Re-Gen faction, Laura Silenus," said the female intruder. "Who I am does not matter, soon yours too will not." She then started laughing hysterically.
"What do you…" As soon as the intruder finished laughing, she faded away. Invisibility? No, her presence is gone.
As Erin and the almost invisible assailant were exchanging blows, the enemy suddenly retreated far, "About time, huh?" he said under his breath. "Sorry, but we part ways now."
"What?!" which was the only thing Erin was able to say as the assailant's presence completely disappeared. He retreated?
The next thing Erin knew was someone shouting her name and being enveloped in shadows as the jet fell fast.