Sister-in-law

***ARTEMIS***

Everyone was in a bit of a panic since Dr. Skye suddenly put Coby to sleep. But she said it was better than him being awake.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because lifting the seal will hurt a lot. Now, lay him down in the pavement."

Although hesitant, Blake and Calvin did what she asked and laid the unconscious fire manipulator in the pavement in front of her. Dr. Skye waved her hands like she was some sort of a conductor of an orchestra and then snapped her fingers. The pavement slowly rose until it became some sort of altar with Coby at the center of it.

"Now, this can be scary and dramatic but I hope you can all keep your cool." reminded Dr. Skye.

She suddenly started chanting in a foreign language I had never heard before and magic circles glowing in green light started appearing around her and Coby. The latter suddenly started screaming so loud I had to cover my ears. He sounded like he was in so much pain and it did not sit well with me.

I was about to interfere, and it wasn't only me, but Seven, Tao and Lei suddenly stopped us. The two Chinese men both had their swords drawn while Seven was in a defensive stance.

Everyone immediately complained.

"What are you doing?" I exclaimed. "Coby's hurting!"

"Coby is aware of the consequences." Lei answered. "And you of all people should understand what's going on."

"If you interfere now, you will only put Coby's life in danger." Tao added.

"Let's just wait, okay?" Seven said.

Despite the hesitation, we all agreed. Lei held my hand and we watched as Dr. Skye performed her spell.

I watched, with a pained expression and emotion, Dr. Skye's hand pass through Coby's flesh and a few seconds later, her hands seemed to pull something out of Coby's body. My friend screamed even louder, his pain not filtered for a little bit.

Dr. Skye successfully pulled out a glowing thin book and Coby's screams finally halted. We immediately rushed to Coby's side, but she suddenly stopped us.

"I wouldn't do that now if I were you." she said, her tone edgy. "Everyone step back. The damn phoenix is pissed off."

All of a sudden, Coby was engulfed in flames and slowly rose in the air. His floating body maneuvered itself in an upright position and he was suddenly standing in front of us. His once closed eyes opened and revealed glowing fiery orbs.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" an unearthly voice screamed. It was a mixture of Coby's voice and something else's. The sound shattered the magic circles in the vicinity and blew us away with an unseen force.

In a blink of an eye, Coby was suddenly standing in front of Xander and strangled him.

""Coby!""

"Blasted humans!" he growled. "How dare you lock me away? I will have my revenge!"

"I thought you said it will be fine!" I yelled at the psychiatrist who was trying to catch her breath after her magic circles were destroyed.

"It was supposed to! I thought Coby can calm him down and tame him after the codex is taken! That bird hasn't come into terms of his situation so you have to do something!"

"What do you mean we have to do something?" Seven yelled.

"The phoenix is controlling Coby's body, but that doesn't mean Coby can't take it back! You have to help him!"

Seven doused 'Coby' with water. The flames weakened but it flared again, stronger. Xander, who was still in the clutches of the possessed Coby, froze the hand that tightened on his throat and freed himself.

"Coby! Come to your senses!" Calvin yelled and tried to get closer, but the flames just became more intense.

"Wake up dude!" Blake yelled as well.

"Revenge! I will have my revenge!" 'Coby' said like a mantra.

A fiery figure of a phoenix emerged behind Coby and I could feel the temperature rise even more.

'This feeling. He's going to attack!'

A ball of fire, the size of my head, formed above his hand and suddenly threw it at my direction. Beside me were Tao, Lei and Kyle who stood frozen and whose eyes widened in shock. I immediately put my hands together, and then made a series of hand signs. I saw a magic circle form at the back of my right hand glow in a silvery color and a bigger version of it formed in front of us.

It was a magic shield.

The shield deflected the fireball, but it immediately cracked and seconds later, shattered. Once it did, my legs wobbled and I tried to catch my breath. I heard the phoenix growl and the flames around Coby's body became even brighter. Multiple fireballs in varying size appeared around him and was about to have a go at us.

I swallowed the non-existent lump on my throat as fear slowly crept on my skin. I haven't felt such intense fear in a long time and it made me uncomfortable. Lei suddenly hugged me and held Advos in front of us in a defensive stance. My brother held the two of us and I could feel him get ready to lift us off to avoid the incoming attack.

All of a sudden, the phoenix froze. I saw his eyes flicker back to normal and he suddenly fell to his knees. His hands held his head and growled in an unpleased manner.

"What… are you…doing?"

"Don't… hurt… my friends!" said Coby's voice which immediately calmed us down.

"Humans are the reason… we're in this situation!"

"I am human as well! And they're my friends, so back of you bird-brain!"

Coby screamed once again. He flashed us a cheeky smile and then he crashed to the floor. The flaming phoenix, the fireballs and the flames licking around his body all vanished and we were finally able to get closer to him.

I immediately checked Coby's pulse and heartbeat, and gave a sigh of relief when it was in the normal range.

"His temperature's a little higher than normal but it's probably because of his powers. Other than that, he's fine." I said.

Coby was immediately transferred to a room so he could take a rest. Lei and I headed to Dr. Skye who was sitting on the concrete stairs with half of the Codex of Souls on her hands.

"Can the Codex of Souls really help my friends?" I asked.

"Yes."

"And you're the only the one that can use it?" asked Lei.

"That goes without saying."

"Why did you replace the half of the codex that was in the Zhang's hands with a fake?"

"That. I think it was back in the early nineteen hundreds? A few months after the fall of the Qing Dynasty." she sighed and shook his head. "The Zhang family was in chaos. The royal family had fallen and the nobility system was basically no more. The head of the Zhang Family that time sought for my help. The disloyal members of his family were fleeing left and right. He had to do something."

"What's that got to do with why you replaced the codex with a fake."

"It wasn't a fake though, but a clue. That brat, Zhang Yao, asked me to destroy the magical artifacts that were dangerous to be brought out and used for purposes obviously not for the good of the people. I destroyed a few dark artifacts and whatnot, but my Codex of Souls, even though it was only half, was still indestructible. So I took it and hid it in the safest place I could think of. In a way I could think of."

"How come my father never knew about it?" asked Lei, his arms crossed and looked a bit miffed.

"It was never officially recorded. It was a deal between me and Zhang Yao."

"And what did you get from it?"

"Didn't you ever think I did it for free and for the sake of humanity?" she smiled.

"You want us to believe that?" I replied with a scoff. "If you really are my sister in the very first life I ever had, then there's no way you did it just for the sake of others. And if our current history together is any proof, you're as shrewd as anyone can get."

"Huh? Sisters? What are you talking about Artemis?"

I knew Lei would be a little confused. It was only normal.

"Let's do some catching up later after everything has passed. Preferably once Dean and Tim are fine." he nodded.

"I guess you make a good argument there."

"Yes, I did not do it for free. But that was between me and Zhang Yao, I hope you don't mind it if I don't tell you."

I glanced at Lei who only nodded his head.

"Sorry Doc," she gave me a glare. "Uhm, I mean, Skye. It will take some getting used to, okay? Don't rush me!"

"Hahaha! Sure sis."

"Ehem! Anyway, back to the topic at hand, are you really going to help us with our problem?"

"Of course!"

"What would you want in return?" asked Lei.

"I don't want anything. I've been reunited to my baby sister after a very long time, so I guess that's enough for me."

"Really?" she nodded. "Thank you…"

I suddenly felt a little weary, but I know it wasn't because of tiredness it was because I was finally able to relax after a long while.

"But let's do it on Friday!"

""Huh?"" Lei and I couldn't help but freeze.

"Uhm… Why?" Lei asked. "The full moon is on Friday. Shouldn't we…"

"Yes, but you see I will need the power of certain constellations to do the spell. It's one of the disadvantages of being the Maiden of the Stars. Once I have to perform complicated and large-scale spells, I need to borrow some power from the stars itself."

"I… I see."

"Don't worry. The certain constellations I will be using are visible in the sky at the early hours of the evening. I promise I will save them, okay? Now we all need to rest. Pick any room you want, except for the locked ones."

"Thank you Dr. Lesfar."

"You should call me Skye as well Lei. You can't keep calling me that since I'm your future sister-in-law."

"What?" Lei's face turned red and he went silent.

"Tao! Bring the casualties here!"

Tao bowed and immediately vanished in a blink of an eye. Meanwhile I brought the dumbstruck Lei to a room to cool down. Dr. – no, Skye was right. We all needed rest.