Chapter 28, The Land of Azure Skies

"So, this is the first piece?" Lia stared at the stone the size of a marble in my hand.

"It's pretty small." Rachel said as she looked at it.

"It's not complete yet it still neeeds a finishing touch." I told them and turned to Will who was sitting beside me. We were all gathered in the Sky Garden today. "It needs to be refined first."

"Refined?" Leon asked as I popped the stone in my mouth. "Oi! Spit that out!"

"It's fine, I washed it." I told him and grabbed Will by the collar and kissed him.

"?!" Will flinched when I passed the stone between our joined mouths.

His teeth were clenched, so I pried them open with my tongue and get his tongue to take the stone.

"A-Argent!" Theo grabbed me and forcedfully pulled me away from Will.

"What are you doing?" I asked him and Will spat the stone out of his mouth.

"That's what we want to ask you!" Andrew exclaimed.

"The stone needs to be refined by the Brave of the Sacred Flower and its Sacred Brave." I told them. "The fastest way is to refine it with our saliva since our saliva is the thing that has our DNA."

"Ehh?" Lucas was a bit skeptical and the stone suddenly glowed. Then its shape began to change evantually turning it a crystal the shape of a diamond.

"Looks like it's done." I said as I held a small diamond shaped morganite in my hand. It's complete. Now it's safe to use.

I touched my shadow and pulled out a pendant and fixed the gem into place.

"Here." I passed the necklace to Will.

"T-thanks." He said as he took the necklace.

The moment he fixes the chain around his neck, it glows bright and our brave mark emerges on the crystal.

"Looks like it accepts Will as it's owner." I smiled.

"Explain." Liam said with a smile.

"Oh right. The gem we found was the frist key in its raw state. For it to be used it needs to be refined." I told them. "In order to refine them we need to pass Vi and DNA between the Sacred Flower and the Petal it has belongs to."

"Then why don't you take his hair?" Adele asked.

"Hair doesn't have Vi in it." I told them. "Also, if I use his saliva and mine, I can control the amount of Vi we pass between it."

"I suppose..." Ophelia said. "But why does it need to be refined exactly?"

"When the key is refined, it can be used safely." I told them.

"Used for what?" Lia asked.

"Invision a weapon, brandish the blade in your heart and give it shape with your Vi." I answered. "Focus, invision it, and bend the Vi to your will."

"Alright then." Will said and touched the gem on his neck. "Invision... invision... invision!"

The crystal glowed bright and what appeared was a gun, not like any I've seen before. Completely black in color. But, it only appears for a fraction of a second. It immediately disappears after that.

"Focus, until you can control your Vi without thinking of it." I told him. "It's similar to when you create your guns."

"Alright then." He said and stood up. "Calm my mind, focus the Vi into a weapon, grasp it with your hands."

The gem began to glow brighter again, then, the gun materializes again. Completely formed with jet black color. It was a shut gun, it seems to pack a lot of power with it.

"This thing drains a lot of Vi." Will said.

"It does at first." I told him. "But if you keep it up, you'll be able to minimize the amount of Vi you use."

"Alright then." He smiled and put the gun away.

"So where do we go next?" Rachel asked.

"Over the castle walls." I told her. "To the Azure Skies."

"Where in Azure Skies exactly?" Leon asked.

"Who knows." I said. "I only know it's there, the second key."

"Geez. It's pointless to go there if we don't know where to search." Ethan said.

"Liam, where do you think it is?" I asked him.

"Me?" He asked and I nodded. "Why are you asking me?"

"No reason." I answered and he pinched my nose.

"I know you." He said. "You wouldn't ask a question without a reason. Talk."

"I got caught." I sighed and gave in. "Eight of the hidden castles has a relation to the eight petals."

"And the other two?" Theo asked.

"One is related to me, the remaining one is for the Vassal Braves." I answered. "So Liam, do you feel anything?"

"Nothing." He answered and I sighed.

Liam, he hasn't changed one bit. Still distant in front of others but when it's just the two of us... he can actually be pretty playful. Something that has two sides. A hidden side filled with emotions and a surface side which is a veil to hide the truth.

"The Sunflower Castle." I said.

"What?" Andrew asked.

"The Sunflower Castle. It's an old castle in Azure Skies. It's a castle that always faces the sun. It said to rotate so that it can akways point at the sun." Angie answered. "But why that castle?"

"It's exactly like Liam." I told them. "Sunflowers bloom towards the sun, in certain beliefs, the sun has a eight rays around it. Same to our crest with eight kites."

"Is that all?" Lucas said.

"Also, Sunflowers have another meaning." I told them.

"One-sided love, devotion, unwavering love." Lia said and I smiled.

"I-I-I..." Liam was blushing beet red for the first time.

"Camera!" I exclaimed and took pictures of him immediately.

"Stop!" He said but I was just teasing him. "Geez."

"So anyway, Sunflower Castle is the place where the second piece is." I told them.

"So that's our next destination?" Leon asked and I nodded.

"Alright let's get ready. Our next stop, is Sunflower Castle in Azure Skies." Will said and stood up.

"Let's go, to the land of azure skies." I said.