Chapter 22 - New powers awaken!

"Oi, cut the crap brat!" Emrit yelled as he walked up to the boy who stood on the wall's edge.

Evan, or rather Ronan, (whichever you would call him now) only sighed and took a deep breath as he looked to the giant six layered dome in the distance while the orange light of the sun shone upon his brown skin.

"I know it's hard to believe but that much is true." The boy looked at his hands. "I don't understand it myself." He then clenched his fists and looked forward again as his eyes sharpened. "But that doesn't matter right now. First, I'll have to go ahead and take care of that malice beast."

Then a red barrier formed around the boy. Though, unlike the stiff, solid-like, barrier that his mother and Grandfather would create, this barrier that enveloped the boy resembled the gooey like substance that the Gates were made from.

And when the 'barrier' surrounded him, it pulled tighter and wrapped around the boy's skin until it twisted and turned to warp the young man into nothing.

"That was…" Lord Aquaron said with widened eyes as he stepped forward. "That ability just now…it was just like the legends described…"

Emrit gritted his teeth and stared the man in the eye. "Bullshit!" he yelled as grabbed Mohan and hopped off the wall to once more return to the battlefield.

"Now this is something." Lady Aerite said as she vanished into air.

Lady Natura hopped on to a carpet of light and zoomed off as well. Lord Aquaran also then followed, after retaining his composure, on a wave that he conjured. And so, off they all went to return to where the battle still ensued.

~

But that would not be the case for long since Ronan soon appeared within the six layered barrier to stare up into the red eye of the monster that still roared with rage as it tried to dismantle the annoying barrier.

"Now what exactly are you?" Ronan called to the monster with a smirk on his face.

The red eye looked down to where the man stood on the ground.

"You!" it screeched and sent a shadowy hand towards the little man.

Ronan laughed as his barrier engulfed the hand and sliced it away from reality to leave the monster confused as he looked at the place where he once had an arm. Though, of course, it soon grew back.

"What…" the creature returned his attention to Ronan. It lowered and stretched its neck downwards to meet the man, face to face. "What are you?" it asked as it remarked on the strange symbol within Ronan's eyes. As it were now, the seven colors ceased their warping together in the center dot where a pupil should have been. And instead, only the red line of the Regelia family connected to the center and glowed ever so brightly when compared to the other colors which were much duller at this point.

"I'd like to know that as well." Ronan remarked as a giant blanket sprung out from his hand and fell over the monster. Of course, he was referring to Evan when he spoke and not he, himself. "This boy is something strange." The man said finally as the blanket fell down on to the creature to wrap around it, engulfing it tightly like wild animal that had been trapped in a net.

"Return to Hell where you belong." Ronan said as he snapped his fingers and in the blink of an eye, the monster was gone. But unlike its other half, this one was simply returned to the World of Hell. Ronan knew that he, or rather Evan, had completely destroyed that other part of the creature using a power that even the first King didn't know existed.

With that done, the man then warped himself out of the barrier and found himself, eye to the eye, with the current King of Efidel.

"Evan." Roy said as he removed his hands from the barrier and looked to the boy. "What did you just do?" he asked, having seen the mass of shadow mysteriously disappear in mere moments.

Ronan looked to the barrier. The other Gifted of the Regelia family had not bothered to take it down. That was because of the possibility where the shadow simply used its ability to make itself seem as though it had disappeared.

Ronan spoke with a kind and gentle voice (which was not his own and rather Evan's) "There's no more need to worry. That creature has returned to its rightful world." Ronan looked to the crown and robe that decorated the man in front of him. And from that, he could confirm that this was indeed the King. "Listen carefully…" he began. "This may all seem very confusing but in whatever manner, I, the first King of Efidel, have inhabited this boy's body. But it will not last for long. I can already feel myself fading away."

Though Ronan did not see it himself, the lines in his eye had begun to fade away, one after another.

"As it is now, this boy is someone who possesses remarkable power. I do not know how it is so but I can only imagine that it is the beginning of something entirely new." Ronan walked forward and placed a hand on Roy's shoulder. It required him to stretch and stand on his tip toes. An action that made him quite embarrassed, if he were to be honest. He then continued. "Be prepared, King of Efidel. Something is about to ensue." And with that said, the strange symbols faded from Evan's eyes and the boy nearly fell to the ground as Ronan's consciousness departed from his mind. But Roy caught him quickly and stopped his descent.

~

What was that? The old King looked to the boy resting in his hands. Slowly, and gently, he placed the young man on to the ground.

"Evan." He said quietly. There was no response. "Evan." The king said again as he tapped the boy on his forehead. Though Evan didn't reply, he did reflexively swat his head and then rolled over to his side.

The King sighed and stood up as he looked to the barrier. There was nothing to be seen within but the man couldn't simply trust the word of the acclaimed 'First King.' What he did instead was order those from the Aerite family to step forward. After which, he told his nephew to create an opening in the barrier where the Aerites then immediately sent their wind to search the insides. And as Ronan had said, there was nothing to be found there. The creature was gone.

So the King then told the other members of the Regelia family to release the barrier and that, they did with pleasure. Even for them, keeping that barrier up despite all the monster's attacks was quite an ordeal.

The King then looked towards the Kingdom and by now, the four leaders along with Mohan that had gone to the capital, now returned.

Emrit, in particular, wasted no time and immediately addressed the sleeping Evan as Mohan went to the young man's side. "What did he do?" the man asked.

"I believe that he returned the malice beast to hell." The King replied.

"And how did he do that?" Emrit asked as a flare grew within his eye.

"That ability…" Lord Aquaron interrupted. "It resembled that of the legends regarding the First King of Efidel. The barrier that could divide worlds."

The King nodded his head in agreement. "Indeed, there's no mistaking it. That was indeed an ability identical to that of the First King. But still, that does not mean that Evan's claims were true. The boy could have just been in a daze and it is also very possible that he could have awakened that long forgotten power. After all…" The King looked back to Evan lying on the ground with Mohan seated beside the boy while holding his hand. "…he is of royal blood."

"But that is not a matter to be discussed now." The King refocused his attention to the leaders. Lord Electura had also joined them. "We must first deal with the scraps of battle. Even though the main enemy has been defeated, I am sure that they are still many malice beasts roaming our lands. And this time," the King's eyes sharpened and his deep voice became even more prominent. "I will take no excuses from you all. As King, I order you leaders of the Gifted to assist the common folk in destroying the remaining malice beasts."

~

After that, it took about three days of surveying and exorcising until the Gifted found it safe to conclude that all the Malice Beasts were now destroyed.

And during that time, Evan had been sleeping. He had only woken up four days after to find his mother along with Eon, Teya and Blyke in front of him.

"Evan!" They all yelled in sync, with the exception of Eon, and then leapt for a hug.

"Hey, get off of me!" he yelled in response as he tried to push Teya and Blyke away. He didn't do the same for his mother since he knew all too well what she would say if he did – "Oh, you think you're too old to hug your mother? Oh, how time has passed! No longer do you care to feel the warmth of your mother's bos…"

"Good to see you up." Eon said as he walked over to the bed.

Evan, having given up on getting rid of his two clingy friends, looked up to his brother. "Well, I can't just sleep forever."

A smirk grew on Eon's face. "No, you can't." the man replied and then gave a backwards wave as he left the room.

"Hey dude!" Blyke began as he pulled away. Teya also did the same, her face had grown a little red after realizing how she reacted. Though Mohan still wrapped her hands around the boy and pulled him closer into her chest.

"Ma!" Evan pulled his head forward.

"Don't Ma me!" Mohan replied. "You owe me this much after putting me through all that worry."

Blyke then continued on what he was saying. "I heard that you did some seriously wicked stuff. What happened?"

Evan dimmed his eyes as he tried to remember but a headache stopped him from doing so. "I don't know." He shook his head.

The boy then looked to his hand. He did do some strange things and vaguely remembered using powers that did not belong to him.

And now, he wondered what would happen if he tried to use his Gift.

So he did. But instead of a cloud, a pink barrier appeared in the boy's hand. "Huh!?" he said with a widened eye. The power looked so much like his mother's.

All the eyes in the room looked at the little bit of power that appeared in the young man's eyes. And just as he did, they all said the same thing – "Huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"