Original Stories Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ Revenge of the Descent ❯ Eleven - Determination ( Chapter 11 )

Candis tossed and turned in her sleep, visions of the past as well as possibilities of the very near future plaguing her dreams, though she was not the only one who had trouble sleeping. It was well past midnight and none of the girls could sleep. Not wanting to wake their companions, they silently agreed to talk amongst themselves just outside of the cavern.

 

All four of them took a seat on the cooled sand, staring calmly into the serene water. It was a comfortable silence for a few moments, until Chi finally decided to speak up. “Guys, I know I'm normally trying to look on the bright side,” she said, her face etched with worry. “But I have a really bad feeling about this.” She frowned, shivering as she stared across the ocean at the darkened castle. It nearly matched the blackened sky, had the moon not lit it up. No lights were visible inside or out of the castle, puzzling the girls.

 

Suddenly, Feng shot up, catching a hint of a sound. “Did you hear that?” she asked, looking almost frantically at the other three. “Did you?!”

 

Frightened at Feng's strange behavior, the others shook their heads. “Wait,” said Candis, also standing up, though slowly. “Is that someone yelling for help, or in agony?” Her eyes widened at the length such a sound could travel. Although the island was not more than a couple hours away, it was still quite a distance.

 

Kai's eyes widened as she was unexpectedly bombarded with many memories flashing before her eyes. Shocked, she remained immobile, her mouth hanging slightly open as her deep, chocolate colored eyes dulled considerably. She seemed to be in a trance, which none but Chi took notice to. “Kai?” she called, looking anxiously at her companion. She started to panic when no answer was received. “Guys!” Feng and Candis stopped concentrating on the sounds emanating from the castle and looked to Kai, seeing a void of nothing behind her eyes.

 

“Kai!!” Candis knelt down in front of her friend, shaking her shoulders violently. “Kai, snap out of it!” Her heart stopped when the girl's eyes closed briefly, before they opened, looking confused as well as terrified. “Kai, are you alright?”

 

“You suddenly stopped moving and your eyes looked so dull, I asked what was wrong and you didn't answer,” Chi explained, seeing her friend's bewildered expression. “What happened?”

 

Feng frowned at the three girls beneath her. “Your connection to Guren has either strengthened, or it was quite strong in the first place,” she finally said, although she still did not seem completely convinced at her own statement. “What did you see?”

 

Kai gulped and licked her lips briefly, as they had gone dry while her mouth hung open. “I…” she started, unsure of what to say. “I think I was seeing what Guren just saw… It was memories of all of us, and our missions, like when we defeated Gilead. And then when we came upon the girl…” She blushed, purposely leaving out the recollections that had involved just the two of them. She wasn't even sure if the others had known he had apologized to her for snapping when he wasn't himself.

 

The girls' attention was then suddenly drawn to a bright light radiating from the castle on the very first story. It was no ordinary light, however, for it first glowed bright red, then faded gradually into a menacing purple and black swirl of mist. A huge, swift gust of wind started up, startling the girls as they struggled to make their way back into the cavern. The others, having woken up at the bright light, quickly made their way to the entrance to pull the girls in as soon as they got close enough.

 

Collapsing onto the sand while gripping the walls, Candis slammed her free hand into the dirt. “Dammit!” she cursed, her eyes filled with hopelessness as well as anger. “She's done it. Cassiel finally gave her life for that cursed bitch. Now Rika has all the power and probably more than Edric Balin Elias had!!” She growled lowly as she attempted to stand, almost wanting to push Eryk away as he came to help her.

 

“Candis,” he said sternly, forcing her to look him in the eye. When she tried to break away, he sighed irritably, pushing her hard against the rocky wall of the cavern with either hand at each side of her face. “Candis, calm down! You four have become stronger than three years ago, and Rika only recently received all of Cassiel's power. With all the power she lost within that necklace, she could be as strong or maybe even weaker than that ass Gilead was years ago.”

 

She stared hard at him, though her shoulders eased down a bit. Though she was still angry and not very convinced that they would beat Rika, she wrapped her arms around Eryk and sighed into the comforting warmth he gave her. He smirked a bit, ruffling her hair before returning her embrace.

 

If it were possible, Kai looked even angrier than Candis. She had her back turned to everyone, who were strangely looking to her for an answer. She clenched her fists and slammed them against the wall, grinding her teeth as her head hung low. “No,” she finally said, trying to gain her composure. She straightened herself, though her back was still to the group. Candis broke away from Eryk's hold to look at her friend. “We can't give up that easily. Like Eryk said, she just recently gained her powers. Cassiel herself didn't know of these powers years ago,” she added, gaining her confidence. “Without human souls to collect within the destroyed pendant, Cassiel couldn't have had that much power anyway.”

 

“Right,” Florian said, catching on to where her logic was going. He offered her a small grin when she finally turned around, determination dancing in her eyes as well as in the eyes of the other three girls. “Rika should be just as strong, if not, weaker, than Gilead. There is no secret to her power. All we need to do is storm the castle, find her, and defeat her once and for all.” The tension in his body seemed to ease as his close friend nodded at his last statement.

 

“Yes,” said Kyros, and once they turned to him, they knew he would be the one to crush their hope. “But you must think of her ways. Last time, you said she sent three strong demons for you to defeat, before you could even reach her.” The four girls nodded, unfortunately foreseeing the point he was trying to make.

 

“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Candis snapped, unable to keep herself from being angry with Kyros. “She'll probably send out more lackies before she lets us get to her, while she probably accustoms herself with her renewed powers. Wait…” Her eyes widened as she realized something. Feng, catching the change of tone in her voice, looked almost sad for a moment.

 

“Kai,” she said softly, walking towards to the girl as she laid a hand on her shoulder. Kai looked befuddled until she realized why she was giving her such a sympathetic look. She sighed, pushing Feng's hand off of her.

 

“I know,” she said bitterly, staring at the dirt as she refused to look anyone in the eye. “She'll send Guren to take care of us.”

 

Kyros frowned at the girl's tone of voice. He wanted to embrace her and make all the hurt go away, but he knew he would only get himself in trouble for it. Aw, hell, he thought, fighting to keep his grin hidden as he walked to the girl. Tilting her chin up, he stared deep within her eyes, smirking. She seemed hurt and angry at the notion, though he just continued to smile, ignoring Florian's shouts. “He will break the curse,” he said, certain, as his voice did not waver, nor did he hesitate. Patting the girl on the head, he added, “I'll make sure he does.”

 

Kai stood frozen in place, looking very confused. Kyros? Reassuring her? Almost promising that he'll make sure the curse is broken? She shook her head, slapping at the hands of Candis waving in front of her. “Candis, we need to talk.” Candis looked strangely at her, though once she said in her mind, About Kyros, she nodded and gave Eryk an apologetic look.

 

Candis was surprised when Kai grabbed her wrist and nearly dragged her up to the top of the hill. “Did we really need to go this far?” she asked, looking annoyed. Sighing, she sat down next to Kai on the dying grass. “So, what is going on between you two?” She tried her best to hide her grin, though it barely worked.

 

Blushing, Kai poked Candis with a stick. “Nothing!” she replied, looking angry. “Before you go and say, `then why are you blushing,' it's because oddly, his annoying tactics are working.” Candis blinked for a moment before scrunching her eyebrows, obviously not understanding the statement.

 

“Working? Wait, you mean to tell me you're about to give up on Guren for this guy's charms?! Kai, he's a—” She stopped talking when she noticed Kai hunched over, laughing quite loudly. “What the hell?” She raised a brow at her friend, scooting a couple more feet away from her.

 

“Hell no!” she replied, still lauhing. Once her fit was over, her face turned serious. “I mean, his annoying antics are actually making me feel a little better. Earlier when he followed me after I left, I got the feeling he understood that I didn't want to dwell on Guren or the curse that's on him. Or even on that damned wench, Cassiel, and her employer, Rika. But…” She trailed off, turning to the right to make sure Candis missed the light pink covering her cheeks. “He tried to kiss me.” Deciding she was merely red from anger, she turned back to Candis, scaring her with the look on her face.

 

“Kai…” she started, but the girl cut her off, seeming very livid, indeed.

 

“He dared to try and take my first kiss!!!” she nearly shouted, a wrinkle forming between her brows from the stress. Muttering curses amongst other nonsense more to herself than out loud to Candis, she finally sighed. “Thankfully, though, he changed his mind. Instead he kissed me on the nose.” She scrunched her nose up at the disgusting scene as she remembered it.

 

Candis looked more confused now than before. “He still kissed you?” Kai simply nodded. She shook her head slowly, looking back down toward the cavern. “He doesn't just have a thing for you,” she said quietly. “Though I don't think it's true love.” She laughed heartily along with her best friend, the two of them giggling at the thought of such a haughty prince being in love with anyone. “I don't think that is even possible.”

 

Kai snickered, rubbing her arms to warm herself from the raging wind, for it still had not died down from previously. “I doubt it,” she replied, a smug grin on her face. “Well,” she started, standing up to stretch, though she immediately curled back into herself once she felt the coldness of the wind. “Let's go back.”

 

Her friend nodded and started to get up. “Wait,” she said, stopping Kai in her tracks. “You do know, if Rika is stronger than Gilead, we may…” She hesitated, not wanting to admit the truth herself. Kai stiffened, but quickly nodded.

 

“I know,” she said softly, “And I know Feng and Chi know as well what fate we may have to endure.” Sighing, the two girls hastily made their way back down the hill and into the safety of the cavern.

 

 

“Eryk?” called Candis. He looked slightly annoyed, as he and Florian were about to create a small ship to sail over to the island. But her pleading eyes dragged him over anyway, leaving Florian looking more irritated. She took his hand and pulled him to a slightly more secluded place under a dying tree. “Eryk,” she started, wanting to avoid his eyes. But, stubborn as he is, he forced her once more to look into his eyes. “Eryk.” He nodded, wanting her to continue. “We… We may have to—” Gasping in surprise, Candis soon felt Eryk's lips upon her own. Sighing, she gladly returned it, enjoying the small moment they were able to share, before…

 

“I know,” said Eryk, almost looking sad. “And I understand. Saving the worlds is much more important than having you all to myself.” He smiled geniunely as his joke made the love of his life laugh. Turning serious once more, he gazed into the lovely bright red eyes that belonged to Candis. “I… Love you, Candis,” he said quietly, smiling.

 

Candis laughed softly, pecking him once more on the lips. “And I love you, Eryk, even though you're arrogant, possessive, over-reactive, and extremely loved by money-loving women.” He chuckled at her silly way of complimenting him, smirking as his lips once more claimed her own.

 

“I'll live. Just let me know when you're in complete control, so I can have you every once in a while,” he added, winking. Candis blushed, lightly punching him in the shoulder. He laughed once more, kissing the girl lovingly on the forehead before regrettably pulling her by the hand back out to the rest of the group.

 

 

Florian wished that he could take time to talk to Kai just as Eryk had, though he was somewhat relieved when he found Ilias talking to the girl. His shoulders slumped and his lips curved downward as he threw ingredients every which way, looking for the particular herb for the spell he and Eryk were about to cast. Finally finding it, he turned around only to be hit in the head. “What the hell, Eryk?!” he asked heatedly. Eryk rolled his eyes, holding up a bag of what Florian had been looking for.

 

“I already got them out of the other bag,” he said, looking angry. Florian smiled sheepishly as he returned the extra herbs to the pocket they came out of, ushering Eryk to move out of the way of the sand.

 

“Alright, now,” he whispered, carefully drawing into the sand the symbols needed to create a ship.

 

Ilias nervously made his way to the figure crouched over a small pack. Clearing his throat, he waited patiently for her to finish packing supplies and stopped her before she could walk away. “I want to speak with you,” he said, his voice laced with compassion.

 

“I know, I know,” she said, looking irritable as she rolled her eyes, grudgingly turning to face the elf. “About Guren. I understand that the curse is strong.” She frowned as he shook his head.

 

“You know what may need to happen should we have underestimated Rika's power.” Seeing her growing annoyance, he quickly added, “I'm worried about you. All of you. There was never anything found in the prophecy, or other prophecies, that guaranteed you four would be separated after becoming one. It would be a difficult task even for sorcerer's, had they the power to separate four super-beings…” He sighed, laying a hand on Kai's shoulder and squeezing it lightly. “I have faith in you four. Guren will break the curse and you'll all come out together.” He attempted a smile, though the doubt in his eyes was visible.

 

Kai nodded a little, grateful that the elf was worrying about them. “Don't worry, Ilias,” she said, also trying to give an encouraging smile. “As long as we believe in ourselves, we can do virtually anything.” Feeling a welcomed sense of relief wash over him, Ilias nodded at the girl before giving her shoulder one last squeeze and returning to speak with Kyros. Kai turned, seeing the other three Elementalists walk towards her. She looked each and every one of them in the eye, knowing they knew what must be done.

 

Candis broke the silence, nearly shouting, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do this!” Smirking at her almost false-looking confidence, Kai and the others nodded in agreement before following Eryk and Florian into the quickly spell-bound ship.