Chapter 28: Deception
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"A job well done, Tyran and Artemis. I wouldn't have expected anything less."

"But, we didn't retrieve the Amarathine and I had demanded the flower for a wish," Tyran admitted in shame, "Aren't you going to punish us?"

"By you not bringing to me the flower," Xana turned his back on them and faced a mirror, "It prolongs matters. However, the Fudox barrier won't last very long. Unaware and far from the guardians, when the time is right, we will capture her. Plus, you remembered to cast the Kaqunz spell, am I right? That is all I need right now, and praises to you, Artemis, that you didn't allow the guardian of Air to have fallen. It would have complicate the Kaqunz spell. Now, go back to your disbanded bodies. The guardians must be waiting for you."

On queue, the two boys vanished into thin air, leaving the room in silence. Xana walked towards the mirror and admired himself, until he heard someone's voice, "They failed miserably?"

"On the contrary, Cyrus, they passed miserably," Xana turned to see the pureblood leaning against a pillar beside Azric as both vampires bowed in response. Xana acknowledged and wondered aloud, "Who is your descendant in Kadic, Cyrus?"

"A cheerleader."

"Azric?"

"One of Jason's buddies."

"Marabonta?"

"A filthy nerdy student who calls himself the environmentalist of Kadic Academy," Marabonta scoffed at a lock of blue hair that fell in front of her face, "You know, Xana, for an ancestor, you and 'him' don't look alike."

"Oh yeah," Azric realised also, "Each of our descendants have almost the same features as us, but I don't see any in 'him' that relates to you."

Xana just smiled and swayed his hands, forming a dark purple cloud which showed a moving image. The setting was at the top of a hill where a young boy was seen lying down in the grass patches. "The 'boy' may not resemble my features but he will follow in my footsteps. For now, he's just our pawn in the chess set, which whom I would soon evolve into a knight."

♫

"Danny!" Cornelia yelled out for one of Jason's pals as he walked out of the biology lab, "Danny! Has Ulrich left the laboratory?"

Daniel scratched this dark brown hair at her strange question and clutched tighter onto his grey haversack. He stretched his neck before answering her back, "He took off a minute ago. I think he's heading for gym. Why? What's up?"

"I wanna confirm something," Cornelia said as she looked around the crowded corridors, "It's a complicated thing."

"Oh I see," Danny raised an eyebrow and smiled wittily, "Boy-girl relationships problems, right?"

Cornelia punched him on the shoulder, "Thanks, Danny!" And off Cornelia went in the right direction, chasing after Ulrich. It was Tuesday, the very next day of their trip to the desert. Cornelia felt so grateful that there was air-conditioner back in Kadic when they returned at night. Gaia had shrunk itself into a tiny fat fluffy zebra. It was so tiny that Cornelia had decided to make it into her personal keychain, wrapping a piece of string attached to a chain followed by a ring. She then chained the mini-sacred animal onto her wallet that now, was dangling out of her shorts as Cornelia dashed in the given direction. Slowly, Cornelia could see a lock of Ulrich's amber hair from afar. She quicken her pace, dodging every possible student that she passed by. "Ulrich!" she shouted through the crowds, creating puzzled faces among everyone. They made a gap for her as Cornelia breeze through them. When she got near enough, Cornelia tapped onto his shoulder.

Ulrich was surprised at first but greeted Cornelia with a wide smile, "Hey."

"Don't 'hey' me," Cornelia snapped at him as she pushed his shoulder, "Give me your bag."

"What?" Ulrich asked puzzled. Ever since Cornelia had laid eyes on Artemis, she has been meaning to find out if maybe Ulrich was a villain in disguise of Glamra. It was almost too coincidental, and that she must really find out the real truth. Tiadora had told them before that the Glamra effect will be deflected if the person isn't in contact with the pink contained liquid. So Cornelia thought of doing any inspection, "You heard me. Pass me your bag and take out everything that's in your pockets, shoes and chains. Watch."
Reluctantly, Ulrich dropped his bag, unclipped his watch and emptied his pockets as well as his shoes just like how Cornelia had asked him to. Cornelia felt weird asking him this and had half-hoped that he wasn't Artemis at all, but that would mean dire embarrassment. Once Ulrich was done, all he had left was his clothes. Cornelia continued staring at him, trying to figure out any other 'containing' places around him while Ulrich had been wondering. She held onto her waist and slanted her body to one side, continuing to guess. "Cornelia?" Ulrich was very confused at what prank she was playing at, "Is there anything wrong?"

There wasn't. His eyes were still left-blue and right-purple, and he still had that charming flawless face unlike Artemis' scar features. She frown and sighed, "I'm sorry, Ulrich. Here's your bag back."

Cornelia handed his things over and tried to make a run for it, but Ulrich caught her wrist in time, "No. You're not leaving without an explanation."
She sighed again and tried coming up with an excuse, "Uh..er..you see, these past few days, there's been a...stalker...yeah...stalker who has been stalking me and uh...I heard that he is able to disguise himself with this certain potion and...uh...you see, his eyes were exactly like yours but in reverse. So just now if you weren't holding onto the potion, I'll see your true form but now it looks like you weren't. Sorry?"

"You actually thought," Ulrich sounded slightly offended, "I was stalking you?"

"Er yeah," Cornelia mumbled, "but now I know that you aren't...so bye!" She ran again but Ulrich held tighter onto her wrist and pulled her closer to him. Both stared at each other for a moment until Ulrich uttered in her ear, "Come with me. Then I'll prove to you that I'm not." This time, he leaned his forehead against hers. She felt a zing of warmth flowing from his forehead to his fringe, then transmitted into hers as well. Cornelia blushed and swallowed a gulp of saliva before answering back, "Don't we have lessons to go to?"

"Bail them. It's not like we do this all the time, right?" he smiled his sly smile as Ulrich grabbed her palm, interlocking hands with hers. Cornelia obliged and ran along with Ulrich. He dashed outside of the Learning Building and through the girls' dormitory towards the clock tower. Ulrich then slowed down and walked towards the thick trees separating Kadic and the beach apart. Soon, Cornelia felt him release her hand and got even deeper. "You know there's a fence blocking, right?" Cornelia asked when she saw Ulrich trying to push through the fence.

"You do know I make a hole here to bail classes," Ulrich said just in time as he finally found the hole he was looking for. Ulrich grabbed her hand again and pulled her out of the academy, into the shore. They walked together till they reached the center, then Ulrich gripped Cornelia's shoulders with his hands. The sea's breeze brushed in between them as they held onto each other's gazes, but after a while, Ulrich turned her to the opposite direction. "Don't look," Ulrich ordered Cornelia who's back was now facing his.
Soon, Cornelia heard some kind of ruffled sound behind her. What the hell is he doing?! Cornelia thought, not tempted to turn. After a quick minute, a splash rippled in the sea and a squirt of water was spit at her leg. Irritated, she had half the mind to yell at whoever that was playing in the water, but when she looked to the sea, Cornelia saw Ulrich. In the water. And his clothes on the sands beside her. "What the fucking hell are you doing?!" Cornelia shouted at him when she realised what he was doing, "Why did you take those off?"

"Hey. Even my underwear's there, you know," Ulrich smiled jokingly at her confused look. "I'm doing this for you!"

"In what logical sense?!" Cornelia gasped and appreciated that the water wasn't sparkly clear as how it should have been. Ulrich blinked once and swam closer to the swallow water, smiling, "I want to prove to you that I'm not 'him'. I want you to fully trust me, Cornelia. So that there aren't any doubts or secrets between us. Here's the evidence."
Somehow, Cornelia felt touched that he was willing to even prove himself to her like this. She blushed and squatted down nearer, meeting his patronizing gaze, "Fine. I believe you."

"Since that's settled," Ulrich said as he swam further away, "then strip and join me in the water."

Suddenly, Cornelia felt her pale white cheeks flare red as she sucked them in with her shock as well, "What sick mind would think that way? I've got a better idea. Why don't you get out of the water and put your clothes back on."

"Okay. Okay," Ulrich uttered after Cornelia had fully turned to face the school building. From here, Cornelia thought, the school looked like a fortress. She giggled at the thought and took out her wallet with Gaia hanging out. The sacred animal tapped its two front hooves together and gave a cute little yelp. Cornelia stroke its few strands of mane, whispering its name, "Gaia, you okay?"

"If okay means," Gaia's lips parted, "being stuffed into darkness and having constant earthquakes, then yes. I'm okay."
At the time Cornelia giggled at Gaia's response, she could feel strong arms hugging her waist and lifting her body weight off the white sands. Involuntarily, Cornelia dropped her wallet before speed sent her splashing into the waters. The salt into her face as Cornelia struggled with the strong arms. After moments, Cornelia managed to get her foot free and kicked her attacker. "Ouch. Ouch. Calm down, Corny, it's just me," Ulrich splashed a wave of seawater in her face again, "At least I'm dressed."

"Whatever!" Cornelia did another wave (with a little help from her wind energy) at Ulrich before staring at the scorching Sun, "Race ya!" And so the race began, giving Cornelia a head-start. She pushed herself forward, keen on reaching wherever finishing point there was. He got in the soccer team, Cornelia analysed, and Coach Dean is very picky on his players. A competition indeed. Another surge of current could be felt from her feet. He's gaining speed, she echoed in her mind. A little air won't be a problem. Whoosh! Her feet pushed Cornelia from her feet, dashing past Ulrich. Soon, she came to a stop and waited for her opponent. Ulrich floated himself upwards and continued to splash her, "Cheater! How am I suppose to know where the finishing line was?"

"Only fools don't know where the finishing line is. Are you a fool?" she teased with a little hint of disgust. They continued splashing at one another until Ulrich stopped and looked towards the horizon. "To the stars," he breathed under his breath.

"Huh?"

"My ex," he blushed, feeling utterly abashed, "She had always been very crazy about the galaxy until her room is filled with all the different planets, unknown rocks, stars, etc. She was so addicted that it caused her life too."

Cornelia placed her hand onto his shoulders. It was quite a surprise that the silver band didn't rust. "Did you love her?"

"Truly madly deeply," he strayed his coloured eyes back into Cornelia's blues, "Veronica attended an astronomy program two summers ago. She achieved the highest mark for all the theory and practical stuff. However, when the professors asked her to demonstrate on how the fire rockets worked, let’s just say that some people didn't know that she was there."

"She got caught in the flames?"

"Yeah," Ulrich stretched his hand to grasp the Sun's rays, "You know, she was just as good as you in volleyball too."

"That's so..." Cornelia didn't get to complete her sentence as a tug had pulled her down, submerging herself totally in the waters. The sight of Ulrich immediately vanished as Cornelia could feel herself being dragged forcefully by the thing that clung onto her right foot. She stared down at the horrible beast. An enormous squid-like creature departed its huge jaws at its oncoming meal. It was even bigger than the octupus they encountered at Oceanatic. Cornelia struggled to reach for her entangled right foot, but the pressure was pushing her back too much to bear. Even her Air energy was off no use. That's when she saw Ulrich catching up with her as he managed to grab hold of her hand. He fished out a penknife from his back pocket and slashed the small blade at the scaly blue tentacle. Immediately, a purple ooze leaked out of the dispatched limb, setting Cornelia free. They headed up for the surface once more when this time, Cornelia realised that Ulrich didn't surface with her. "Ulrich!! Ulrich!!" Cornelia yelled her lungs out at the skies and looked back towards the shores, "Gaia get help!!"

As she dipped herself into the seas again, she knew that Gaia had heard her pleas. Its loud flapping of its wings practically vibrated in the waters. The squid looked like as if it was playing with its food as it tossed Ulrich from one tentacle to another. Cornelia gained up speed and tried to reach for Ulrich, but one of its legs had slammed into her, sweeping her further away.

On our way, Corny! Hand on tight!

The sense of urgency in her brother's voice fuelled her with strength as Cornelia pushed the currents with her Air energy, in hope to reach out to Ulrich in time. The squid maneuvered him sideways and let out its tongue to lick Ulrich. Luckily, its in the water, Cornelia thought as she built a surge of energy from her left palm. She knew that the only effect that Air had in Water, was a forceful push of force. That’s why she thought it was more than necessary to use all of her strength. The glow of her element dazzled wildly as Cornelia flinged the beam towards the beast. Surprisingly, the squid was pushed back with so much impact that the spot that had hit on the creature, bled.

Purple ooze juiced out of its head as its remaining tentacles caressed its bruised forehead, releasing Ulrich. Although exhausted, Cornelia caught up to him and formed a bubble of oxygen surrounding his head. With that in mind, she did for herself as well. Then only seconds later, the squid began charging at Cornelia, stretching its long tentacles. Cornelia’s fears grew as the tentacles suddenly released thick solid thorns from its limb and threw it in her direction.

With a spectra of energy left, Cornelia materialized a small enough shield for both of them. However, as the tentacles almost grazed against the walls of her shield, a red beam zapped across horizontally in front of her, slicing the tentacle smoothly. The remaining portion of its tentacle swiveled right and left above the shield, trying to fight back its attacker that’s when something splashed into the sea. “Jason!” Cornelia shouted in the water for her brother, but as her vision cleared from the bubbles, she realized that the person, who had just landed, wasn’t blond.

He had a light shade of amber lock of hair with a rather good body build. He looked like as if he was donning on a black motorcycle jacket with cool dark blue jeans. His back faced Cornelia as her savior held out his hand and muttered very soft words which Cornelia managed to make out, “Liolvs Davat!” A blade formed at the tip of his hand as he slashed the marine creature. The vibration of his attack rumbled the waters, making Cornelia clutch onto the unconscious Ulrich stronger. The squid, however, as injured pretty badly. A long deep line across the whole body of the giant squid tore open, causing large amounts of purple blood to mix with the water profusely.

The creature staggered back and wobbled, showing many signs of weakness. Slowly but swiftly, it tried to drag itself away, but the guy materialized a golden rope from his hands and did a little cowboy action. Once the rope got caught onto the squid’s arrow-head, the mysterious person swam at great celerity around the creature, wrapping its tentacles in place, trapping it. Struggled it did, but the marine life was too badly wounded to evade that it just gave up trying and collapsed to the seabed. All Cornelia could do was stare at the creature’s defeat, almost frightened. And in the mist of her thoughts, she finally heard the mysterious man speak to her in a familiar tone, “That’s two in a row. You owe me big.”

Finally, he turned around to show his face to Cornelia. “Artemis?!” she couldn’t believe reality. He had saved her twice in two days, but she was supposed to be the enemy. “Wha…what are you doing here?!” she asked again as her gaze drew to his mystifying purple-blue eyes that she knew from yesterday. So magnetic and captivating, it had a different feel than Ulrich’s reversed eyes. Artemis showed no expression. He did not smile nor frown, but his eyes were transfixed on hers as well.

But before Artemis could say something, Cornelia felt the sea lowering in level. And in a split moment, the sea parted in two, leaving the middle gap, where Cornelia, Ulrich and Artemis were, empty. Cornelia expected to fall on her feet on the seabed, but she kept on floating. The waves that parted curved upwards towards the sky at about five storeys high from her position. The poor fishes that were caught in the middle, including the enormous squid were left on the ground grasping for breath with dissolved oxygen. Cornelia looked up to the parched Sun, and saw Kiara standing on the right side of the wave, trying to control the waves.

Then, came swooping down from the sky, David glided a metallic disc on his feet onto the dry gap of the sea and landed the floating disc in front of Cornelia. That’s hen she realized that Artemis had already disappeared. He was no where to be seen. Okay, that was weird, Cornelia muttered silently to herself as she took David’s outstretched hand. With her left arm slung over Ulrich’s lean tummy, Cornelia hopped onto the disc and together, they skimmed into the four o’ clock sky, out of the dry sea. And as though it was in exchange, Cornelia caught a glimpse of a speeding fire passed by her. The warmth of the fire flashed in an instant. “That’s Jason, you know?” David shouted so that it was clear for Cornelia to hear, “He was irritated with the fact that his Fire element wasn’t related to any flight abilities, so he just exploded off into a ball of fire. Just like a human rocket.”

“Awesome!” Cornelia gasped; looking down at the stream of flames that blew passed her, “What’s he going to do?”

“Tiadora said that animals that do not belong to Xana, and who attacks innocent people, are normally possessed by Xana. Just like what happened to Oberon. Remember how after Jason sliced Oberon’s body, a black smoke came out of his body?” David prompted me. After Cornelia nodded with the memory being replayed in her head, he continued, “Well, that is the thing that controls the animal or person. In order to remove it, you’re required to cast a spell from both imagination and strength which Jason had accidentally conjured up. So both Tiadora and Jason are going to do it again.”

“Wait, how does an animal belong to Xana?” Cornelia asked aloud.

“The same way our sacred animal belong to us guardians,” David looked over his shoulder and grinned, “The animals volunteer themselves. The Balistia did.” When Cornelia finally understood, she noticed the water cascading back to its normal level and Tiadora was floating back in the air about a few feet away from Cornelia and David, holding Jason’s hand. I forgot that he can’t fly; Cornelia chuckled silently, as she saw Tiadora having difficulty carrying Jason’s eight. So Cornelia inhaled a mouthful of air and blew the wind at their direction, lightening Tiadora’s load.

Everyone managed to land back safely back to shore where both Mokona and Gaia were waiting at. Gaia had turned back into a small zebra keychain which made its size look like as if it was half of Mokona. She scooped Gaia up and kissed its tiny nose in appreciation. “Get Ulrich to the infirmary,” Jason poked Cornelia at her waist, which sent a jolt through her body. On queue, all five guardians raced back towards Kadic Academy, into the small entrance that Ulrich had led her to.

♥

“The boy’s doing well, but he has to miss lessons tomorrow. His lungs need to clear away the seawater in them,” the usual nurse explained as she gently removed her stereoscope of Ulrich’s bare chest, “I’ll inform Coach Dean about his absence for soccer tomorrow as well.”

“Thanks,” all five magical guardians spoke in unison. They had been sitting outside the infirmary for an hour after they brought Ulrich in. Since then, the nurse informed them to stay outside. Tiadora analysed the story that Cornelia had conveyed to the other guardians during the one hour. Her story sounded off. As Tiadora recalled what Cornelia said, ‘Because of the lack of oxygen in the water after I caught Ulrich, I fainted and the next thing I knew, the squid was already tied up in that golden rope and the sea was already starting to separate.’ If Cornelia had fainted, who had tied the knots on the squid?

Her brows furrowed at the thought and her mind moved back to the time when she and Jason wanted to cast the removal spell of Xana’s mark. The guardians can’t see it yet, Tiadora thought to herself. The mark of Xana has yet to be materialize in their faces. Till then, they can’t know which one is an innocent creature and which one is guilty. They have yet to mature in their powers. She felt sort of relieved when Jason was able to recall the removal spell so quickly. She knew that she could have erased the mark with a snap as the creature was already weakened, but Tiadora knew that she needed for the rest of the guardians to learn as well. To develop into true guardians as great as their ancestors were.

However, her thoughts were rudely interrupted when David had bent down in front of Kiara, shaking her hard on her shoulders, yelling, “Kiara! Are you okay? Snap out of it!”

“No, stop!” Tiadora pulled David’s hands away from Kiara’s shoulders as she could feel his body calm down. Jason and Cornelia had come to their side and stood, looking at Kiara’s wide-eyed face. “Don’t interrupt her,” Tiadora let go of David’s wrists and looked at all of the other three guardians, “She’s having another vision.”