"Sakura, Everest, Angelica and Stephani. You four will head off to Angelica's Homeland, Angelica requested this from Masaru and he gave his approval for her to investigate the traces left during our last fierce battle against Old Satan Faction along with Diodora, when a few Cannibals emerged"
"You four will investigate the Cannibals and ensure that there will be no threat, however, don't try and be a hero doing things alone. If things are too difficult, contact the headquarters for reinforcement. Otherwise, escape. If any of you die"
Ulrika muttered with a cold voice, "The last thing I wish to see if Masaru cry, and if he does. I don't mind killing any of you if your the cause for it, even if he ends up hating me for it"
Angelica who was leading Sakura, Everest and Stephani following a secret path within the forest, mist was incredibly thick that they could not see in front of them. Even using magic would not help them get rid of the mist, hench they had to tie each other up with a rope around their waist to keep connected with one another.
"Angelica, your family sure loves to live in a difficult place like this" Everest complained, she did not count the number of times small monster bugs tried to bite her skin only to be burnt by her dragon aura, she felt increasingly frustrated when she sensed killing intent of beasts yet could not see the beasts at all.
"The most dangerous place tend to be the safest" Angelica said with a wry smile, if she could then she rather not come back here but the emergence of the Cannibals was too much of a problem for her to ignore.
Swoosh!
Sakura without uttering a word slashed her sword to the right, he was not certain what she killed but she felt the feedback of cutting something apart.
"Did you kill something?" Angelica asked in surprise, her heart was beating since the scent of blood would attract even more monsters.
"Yes" Sakura said,
yet before the other two girls, Everest and Stephani could say anything. Angelica began to move faster, the rope pulling the three girls to follow their pace "We have to move before the local monsters arrive"
It took a while for them to arrive midway up the mountain, currently they were walking alongside a narrow path with the only way to traverse was to stick the back against the mountain and walk sideways. The girls were grateful to Masaru who trained their physical bodies to their current state, otherwise, they would not have lasted till now since they could not use magic to disperse the mist and flying in the mist was even more dangerous.
"We will soon be arriving" Angelica called out, just as they turned around the corner the mist that was sticking to them so closely was suddenly gone and they found themselves near the entrance to a village build with rocks, decorated with plants in an ancient style.
"Whoa!" Stephani exclaimed in surprise, she did not expect to see such a wonderful scene. When she turned around to look at the pathway they came from, she realized that the pathway was gone as if it did not exist.
"There is several paths leading to the village, all connected through a spatial tunnel enchanted with Illusion domain. That is why it felt like we were traversing through a forest, while in truth we teleported into a domain where we needed to get out of before we can reach the village. This is our security measure" Angelica explained,
"That's correct, we Dark elves have been hunted down after the elves and high elves managed to hide themselves from the world. Even to this day, there are people who wish to enslave our kind for their greed" a handsome young man wearing a white robe decorated with golden embroidies appeared to welcome the four girls who came.
"Elder" Angelica said respectfully, she gently tapped her chest with the side of her fist, the elder did the same thing which represented the elvish way of greeting each other.
"Welcome back Angelica, we heard many things about you. Including your fiance and master" The elder spoke with a warm voice,
"Angelica!?"
"She came back!?"
"Who are those girls?"
"They sure look beautiful"
Suddenly Angelica, Sakura, Everest and Stephani was surrounded by young elves who became curious of their visitors, since they knew Angelica it gave them courage to come and inspect their long-awaited guests.
"Everyone" Angelica muttered with a warm smile, tears accumulated at the side of her eyes as she felt nostalgia, she missed her home dearly ever since she left together with Diana to pursue her dreams of travelling.
After watching Angelica and the girls chatting with the villagers, the elder clapped his hands "Alright, you all can talk with Lady Angelica, Lady Sakura, Lady Everest and Lady Stephani at a later time. They have to see the patriarch"
Hearing this, everyone made way as the Elder lead Angelica and the girls. Along the way, the girls realized that each house outward appearance was different from the other, yet somehow they created a natural picture together without making it looked disordered. The house they were heading towards to, did not appear too flashy other than its large size.
Following after the Elder, they were led into the palace till they reached a room that was built to welcome guests where there was no need for other high ranking elves to be present.
"Welcome home my precious daughter and her fellow sisters" an elderly man spoke happily when he saw Angelica's appearance, his eyes gleamed with tender love as he watched his beloved daughter knelt down respectfully. Everest, Sakura and Stephani did not kneel down and this did not bother the old man since he understood they did not know much of the Elvish custom.
"Thank you for allowing us to have audience with you, father," Angelica said with a serious face, her old personality resurfaced since it was a teaching that was drilled into her bones since childhood.
"I know why you have come," The father of Angelica said as he sat back down on his seat, he allowed Angelica and the girls to take an on the couch opposite of him. His face became gloomy ever since he himself found out about the Cannibals, this subject was a taboo for him and the village.
"Ever since I discovered those damnable things, they disappeared" The man said while sighing, "So I sent my people to investigate our surroundings, we had to ensure that there was no danger to our village as priority."
"It was then we discovered two children with special abilities" The man muttered, he glanced at Angelica with a stern expression.
"I heard your master also saved a human boy with unimaginable powers in the united kingdom," The man said,
"Yes, his name is Matthew Freeman. Master told us that there were five special human children with abilities that can reach the gods without the need of a sacred gear" Angelica said while nodding,
"Then these two should fit the bill" The man said as he began to explain his discovery, twins.
Jamie and Scott Tyler, two children adopted by the owner of a circus. He sent two elves to monitor these two children ever since they discovered that they were exceptionally powerful despite living so normally, he wanted to know if there was other powers also watching these children. Perhaps he could find the Cannibals who liked to eat the flesh or young promising supernatural children.
The theatre the two of them went to was at the northern end of Reno, Nevada. It was a square red-brick building with a single door and no windows and could have been a bank or possibly a chapel but for the neon sign over the front door.
It was supposed to read THE RENO PLAYHOUSE, but half the letters had fused so that, as the two men watched it from where they were parked in Virginia Street, just two words flashed at them through the fading light: HERE LOSE.
It wasn't exactly the most attractive invitation in a city that was dedicated to gambling, where every other building seemed to be a casino and where the hotels, the bars, even the launderettes, were stuffed with slot machines. Despite its name, the Reno Playhouse hadn't actually put on a play from the day it had been built.
Instead, it provided a temporary home to a long line of second-rate performers: singers and dancers, conjurors and comedians who had all been famous, briefly, a very long time ago but who had never really been heard of since.
These were the sort of people who performed night after night, trying to entertain audiences who were only thinking of the money they had come to win or, worse, the money they had already lost.
The target of their investigation was two boys dressed casually in baggy jeans and T-shirts, one of them carrying a backpack. It was obvious immediately that they were twins, about fourteen years old. They were both very slim, in fact, they looked malnourished. Their hair was black and dead straight, hanging down to the neck, and both had dark brown eyes. One was a couple of centimetres taller and a few kilos heavier than the other.
"It was quite mysterious, how those two children had strong mental powers" The man said as he continued to explain the happenings during the investigation.
By twenty past seven that evening, a small crowd had gathered on the pavement, waiting for the door to open. There were about fifty people. Most of them had been attracted to the theatre by leaflets given to them by the receptionists in the hotels where they were staying.
The theatre contained two hundred seats and was shaped like a horseshoe around an elevated wooden stage. A red curtain hung down. At exactly half-past seven, the sound system blasted
out a burst of pop music and the curtain rose to reveal a dark, bearded man wearing sunglasses and a turban.
After he announced the start of the show, it was much later until the time came when the twins had appeared, now dressed in dark trousers and black shirts, open at the neck.
The taller one was gazing out into the glare of lights with undisguised hostility. He had the look of a street fighter and, indeed, there was a large bruise on one of his cheekbones.
His brother was somehow friendlier, more welcoming. It was just possible that he enjoyed being here. He was the one who spoke. He introduced himself as Jamie Tyler and introduced his brother as Scott, the two elves who were watching almost fell off their chairs when they heard the boy nonchalantly explaining a portion of his abilities to the people.
While he had been talking, a stagehand had carried in a table with a pile of newspapers. There were twenty different papers from all around America. There were other props too. He would come to those later.
Jamie scooped up the newspapers and walked down to the front row. He stopped in front of a large, frizzy-haired woman who was wearing pink leggings and an "I Reno" T-shirt. Jamie asked the woman to pick a newspaper, then he asked the husband next to the woman to tear out a section of the newspaper.
Then he finally came to his third spectator, the page was being held by a Korean tourist who had come with his wife and daughter. After asking, the Korean marked a word in the newspaper.
Yet a moment afterwards, Scott immediately said the word that was marked shocking everyone. They became sceptical so Jamie did several more times using objects, business cards until the incident occurred when he approached a woman.
"What happened?" Everest asked,
"The woman gave him a picture, he did not know who that boy was at all. Yet, the moment he looked at the picture his brother acted strangely" The man said while furrowing his brows,
"The brother suddenly began to mutter how the boy was being hurt, he even said the boy's name despite never meeting him at all," The man said before he sighed, "The woman naturally lost her cool when she realized this, she had been searching for her son all these years and here came a clue"
"If it was not for the security then it would have become problematic, luckily they ended the show prematurely. And that was when a specific organisation made their move, and its the same one I felt had a connection with the Cannibals" The man explained, he rubbed his chin.
"Nightrise Corporation, they recently rise up as a multi-corporation that dealt with many things from Food to Technology, however, there was one thing we discovered. They kidnap children who were reported for having a special ability, although we are not certain why. So we can only mark them as a possibility for having a connection with the Canniballs" The man said before he smiled wryly,
"That night we lost sight of the boys, it was only a few hours back we found one of them who was saved by a woman"
"What happened to the other one?" Angelica asked,
"We can only assume that he was captured by the Nightrise Corporation, we are already searching for him while keeping an eye on the other boy"
"Where is the boy you know of?" Stephani asked,
"He is currently in a motel with the woman if you intend to head there. Then I suggest you use a teleportation formation since I have no idea if she would leave now or later" The man said with a wry smile,
"Thank you father, I will be sure to come back home properly," Angelica said with a bright smile hiding her saddened feelings, although she wanted to stay with her father she could not stop her mission, it was for her village's sake, her sister's sake and Masaru's
"No worries, father understands," The father of Angelica said with a smile, he watch Angelica stand up leading the other three girls after the Elder who took them to the teleportation formation.
"She grew up just like you predicted," The man said without turning back, he knew his wife and mother of Angelica has appeared.
"She found her better half, I'm happy for her," The mother said with a warm smile,
"However, it is risky to make them chase after Nightrise corporation since the only proof we have they having a connection with the Cannibals is because of that old woman's prophecy!" The man grumbled,
"That is your mother-in-law!" The mother retorted,
"URK!" The man flinched.
>\/<
"It's here," Sakura said as the four of them approached the flats, they did not realize that the boy was still sleeping.
Knock - Knock
"Coming!" a female voice could be heard from the other side of the door before it opened, glancing at Angelica, Sakura, Everest and Stephani who altered their appearances to average humans warily.
"Who are you and what do you want?" She demanded,
"We are here to speak with the boy" Everest spoke bluntly,
"There is no boy here!" The woman said as she tries to slam the door shut but it was prevented by Angelica,
"We know of everything, and we came here to help. Neither you nor the boy realizes what dangers you two are up against, you will lose your life" Angelica said with a serious voice.
"Who--" Jamie Tyler muttered while holding his forehead, he just was woken up when he heard the noise. Ever since he escaped while leaving his brother who was captured by the black-clothed men, he had been blaming himself for being weak.
"Jamie Tyler," Sakura said while glancing at the boy, "We can help you find your brother, but you have to help us investigate Nightrise Corporation"
"Very well," Jamie said without hesitation, he could not read her mind but he could sense instinctively that the girls in front of him were his only shot in saving his brother after he was labelled as a murderer.