Chapter 23 - New Ordeals

Now, while Evan had been asleep, a few notable things had happened.

One, was the extermination of all Malice beasts that roamed free in the human realm as well as the posting of more Gifted to far outlying regions of the country.

Second, was the mourning and funeral of the beloved Lord Ratuna Firestone, whose throne was now left without a ruler. That was indeed a sad event that took place at the battlefield where he had died. And since there was no body to be recovered, the Lord Firestone's ashes were gathered and placed safely in a golden vase. Then the jar was gifted to Raus Firestone who was given the responsibility of keeping it until his elder brother returned to the kingdom.

And third was the imprisonment of the Lord Aquaron under the grounds that he was suspected as a traitor amongst the Gifted.

So with things now settled and the malice beasts vanquished, Lord Aquaron was now about to be placed on trial.

~

The man's hands were chained against the wall of a prison cell and he downed his head in sorrow as his blonde hair fell along his face. And though he still wore his noble clothes - a blue cotton shirt decorated with golden markings along with a long white pants, they had been tarnished and torn from the last battle leaving him in a rather decrepit state despite his status.

He looked up to see a familiar silver haired man walking towards the dark cell, accompanied by Lias Stronghold and Raus Firestone. Raus, in particular eyed the man with hateful eyes.

Sebastion then opened the prison cell and ordered two guards to unchain the Lord Aquaron.

"Don't try anything funny." Sebastian said as he sharpened his eyes.

Lord Aquaron smiled. "If I wanted to escape, I would have done so already. Do not think that mere chains can detain me Sebastian."

"Yes, that's true. The chains were more of a gesture than a restraint but don't think yourself so powerful that you could fight all of your Gifted brethren." The captain of the guards replied as he held his hands courteously behind his back.

Arthur laughed as he brushed back his long blonde hair so that it would no longer dangle in front of his ocean blue eyes. "Indeed that is so, even I wouldn't be able to do that."

Sebastian sighed. "Just walk already. Neither of us has the time for this. You already know why you're being detained so let's get this over with."

And with that said, the group made their way from below the castle where the prison cells were to be found and up to the King's throne room where Roy himself sat waiting for the Lord to arrive.

Arrone was placed to bow before the King with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Rise." King Roy commanded. He then continued. "Arrone, you know why you are here. So, I'll make things simple. What was the purpose of that secret room below the Aquaron mansion?"

Arrone shook his head. "My liege, I'm afraid that I cannot do so. But I will make one thing clear, I am not the traitor you believe me to be."

The King then gestured for a servant to walk forward and from the blue dress that she wore, Arrone could tell that she was one of his own maids.

"Tell him what you told me." The King told the woman who continued to look straight forward with cold eyes, showing no sympathy for the Lord she had once served. Arrone supposed that was the true feelings of a servant.

The woman began to tell her tale, "For about five months now, the Lord Aquaron has been building that room in secret saying that it was a stepping stone to the past. And recently, about a week ago, he returned acting quite strangely. He told me to lead the way into the room, saying that he had forgotten and then he, along with the companion that bore a silver robe, went into the room and soon came back up. After that, I was forbidden for going into that room, even for caretaking purposes."

Roy met Arrone's eyes. "What do you have to say about that? The silver companion matches the description of the man that appeared on the battlefield."

"I admit to building the room to use for my own reasons. But I have no recollection of entering there with anyone but myself." Lord Aquaron replied, his eyes now fierce with anger.

"And what were your own reasons?" the King batted an eye.

"I cannot say." Arrone replied bluntly.

The King downed his head. "You know that I cannot simply let you go on that. Either you give a proper explanation or I will be forced to see you rot your life away in the dungeons."

"Yes, I would rather prefer not to do that. So I'm afraid…" Water appeared from nowhere and spiraled around the Lord. "that I will have to depart from the capital for the time being. I only came to assure you that I did not betray human kind."

The water then flowed in all directions to create a vortex within the room that soon filled it to the brink. And while Lias and Raus tried their best, they could not move in water as well as the Lord and he soon drifted away at incredible speeds through a window to go to wherever he pleased.

A fire exploded from Raus' fist as he blasted himself towards the window, high up on the walls of the throne room. He then flew out of it to chase after the Lord Aquaron.

Lias had prepared himself to go as well but the King stopped him. "Hold on Lias, stay where you are."

"But my liege…" Sebastian began as he stepped forward.

"No." King Roy declared. "It is no use going after him. I have known Arrone for many years and while he may be secretive at times, he would never openly lie about something." The King looked to the captain of the guards. "This may seem foolish but I thrust his word." The King paused and slouched into his chair as he began to rub his forehead where his lines of age had become much more prominent in these last few days. "And besides, you won't be able to stop him. After all, it would take a great deal of effort to stop one of the Great Leaders of the Gifted."

~

The Lord Aquaron surfed his way up the mighty walls that surrounded the castle using a wave that he had conjured. And while he was doing so, he noticed a fiery presence from the corner of his eye.

A ball of fire, resembling the shape of the sun, then came towards the man. Of course, he easily blocked it with his waves as he motioned water in front of him to act as a shield.

Then came another hand sized sun. And another. And yet another.

And though, the Lord Aquaron blocked them all with ease, the angry Raus would not let up. And in that manner, the man made his way up the first wall from where he could now see down into the lower Kingdom. He still had a ways to go until he would arrive at the last wall that surrounded the entire Kingdom.

So instead of continuing like this, Arrone thought it best to deal with the matter at hand.

With a hand placed forward, the man conjured an ocean of water that bursted forth off the wall as Raus blasted his way up.

As a result, Raus was met with many waves that pushed him off the wall towards the ground below. "You're quite strong but you still have a ways to go, young Raus. Though, of course, I can understand why you are trying so hard. After all, you believe that I am the traitor that indirectly lead to your father's death." The lord said more to himself than Raus as the young man was washed away by the newly created water fall that gushed off the edge of the wall.

Now that the Lord had settled his business, he once more continued on his way to leave the capital.

~

"Hey dude, what the hell?" Blyke asked as he saw the barrier created in Evan's hand.

"I-I-I…" Evan stuttered for a reply but he couldn't.

But what he did do was flap his hands, as though it had caught on fire, to extinguish the ability.

Then once more he tried to use his power. Another barrier appeared. He extinguished it yet again and tried once more. Still, a barrier appeared instead of a cloud.

"Ah…" Evan desperately wanted an answer and instinctively, he looked to his mother seated on the bed beside him.

"Now this is something…" The woman grabbed Evan's hands and inspected it. She then made a small barrier of her own within the palm of her hand. Their powers were nearly identical with the exception that Evan's pink color was a shade darker that Mohan's.

The woman smiled and held both Evan's hands as well as her own up into the air. "Would you look at that, we're matching."

"Ma!" Evan yelled. "But why? What's happening to me?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"Now, now." Mohan pulled Evan back into her bosom and snuggled him tightly with an arm blocking his mouth to prevent him from speaking. But that much didn't stop him from squirming.

"Calm down Evan." Mohan said quietly as she squeezed the living breath out of Evan. "A lot of strange things have been happening to you. Compared to what occurred in the last battle, this much isn't that big of a deal."

She then let go of Evan and got up from the bed. "For now, you stay in bed. I'll go see your Grandfather."

And then Mohan left the children and went on her way to see the King.