Manifest water I

Zahira watched as Adriel and Lykos went on their way. She didn't understand why they would split up, but she decided not to dwell on it. She was relieved that she at least had three of her companies with her. She looked at the elven girl who continuously stared at the drowned body.

"How the hell did they drown?" asked Dania, "Water magic? Water holder? Ugh, why does there have to be so many options!"

Zahira shrugged and patted her on the back, "We should be more focused on finding the person rather than how they did it. Hopefully Lykos and Adriel can find some info."

Iaceo, who was sitting on the floor, stood up and began walking. He walked down the street as Zahira and Dania looked at him for a while perplexed. They went to follow him. The surrounding town was empty without much to see apart from all the frozen citizens and their bodies splayed out on the floor.

"So… um," Dania said trying to break the ice, "Tell me, how's the whole assassin life Zahira."

Zahira shrugged, "I don't know." she kept walking.

"Come on! You had to have done some cool stuff before becoming a knight." Dania said, trying to press on. Dania had always heard of the Mortem family, but never got to meet them. She was filled with curiosity.

"It was ass. I don't know how else to describe it. Zahira doesn't like to talk about home. None of us do." said Iaceo as he stopped walking to look at Dania.

"Oh um, sorry for asking them, I was just curious." Dania said flustered. She didn't mean to offend, and Iaceo and Zahira knew that as they just nodded. 

They continued walking for what felt like hours. They all three were getting bored and their lack of similarities made it hard to talk to each other. All three of them sat down to rest for a while on a frozen bench. Iaceo fell asleep as Zahira stared at the sky. Dania sat between them awkwardly unsure of what to do.

"Sooooo Za-," she's then cut off by Zahira putting her index finger on her lips.

"Shhh, I'm thinking." Zahira said before moving her finger away; never looking away from the sky.

"Huh? Thinking of what?" Dania said as she touched her lips.

"Everything. I mean look at the sky. We're so small and insignificant is there really a point to all of this? We're all gonna die eventually. Why are we doing this job? To speed it up?" Zahira said, as she stared intently into Dania's eyes; her face intense.

Dania laughed awkwardly as she averted her eyes from Zahira's intense glare, 'O- oh wow… you just got existential on me out of nowhere."

Zahira smiled and giggled, "I'm just messing with you!" She said as she ruffled Dania's hair; making it a mess of green and blonde. Dania huffed annoyed as she fixed it. Dania couldn't help but be surprised. She wasn't sure if Zahira ever smiled at her. Or if she had, it was never this genuine. Dania's heart bounced up and down in her chest, ecstatic. Had she finally made some sort of connection with her teammate?

Zahira stood up and walked over to the other side of the bench where her brother slept. She flicked his forehead and he didn't budge. Zahira continued getting more irritated as Iaceo remained in his hibernation. 

"Wake up!" Zahira yelled into Iaceo's ear as he grabbed it in pain.

"Ah fuck! You bitch what the hell!" Iaceo said, holding his ear.

"Next time wake up when I tell you to!" Zahira scolded. She pulled him off the bench with ease as he stumbled.

"You never told me anything except when you yelled in my ear! I never yell in your ear when I wake you up! Damn, would it hurt you to treat me a little nice Sis?" Iaceo said as he rubbed his ear.

"I treat you perfectly fine." Zahira responded coldly.

"Erm- yeah sure Zahira." He said, intimidated by his sister.

They continued trekking through the icy path. They suddenly heard a loud crash coming from the middle of the town. They all turned their heads to the direction of the sound, but houses and other building blocked their view.

The village was massive, almost the size of the capital. It was hard to navigate through its winding streets. There are many villages like this. Many are important places of trade. 

"You think that was Lykos and Adriel?" asked Iaceo.

"Could very well be." responded Zahira.

"We should go." said Iaceo. He started to pick up his pace before Dania stopped him.

"No, if it is them I'm sure they'll be fine. They haven't yelled have they? Lykos said to yell if we were in trouble." Dania said.

Iaceo looked at her but nodded. He was unsure what to think. The logic didn't make sense. Was he to assume they were safe because they didn't yell? They kept on their path before something caught Zahira's eye. They walked past a building, and she could have sworn she saw a puddle of water moving in a rhythmic pattern; as if dragging itself down the road. She ignored it due to the sounds of someone running. All three of them stopped at the corner. They heard the running. Each step was small, and they could hear the labored breathings of what seemed like a child. They all turned the corner as a small boy rammed into Zahira's leg and he fell on his rear.

The boy rubbed his head and groaned. It took him a while to register what happened as his eyes widened in panic. He looked up at them. He yelled and raised his hand sending a small breeze at them that did nothing but make their hair sway. 

"N- no! Please don't hurt me, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have run, please spare me!" said the boy as he cowered, covering his face with his hands.

Iaceo scoffed, but Zahira couched and smiled warmly, "Hey," She slowly reached out for the small boy's face who began to cry, "Don't worry we aren't here to hurt you ok?"

The boy cowered more the closer Zahira's hand got to him. He closed his eyes and braced himself. He then felt it gently touch his cheek as he opened his eyes in surprise. Tears continued to drip from his eyes as Zahira wiped them away. He managed to get a better look at them. He noticed they weren't his captors and he was washed with relief.

"Y- you're not the elf woman?" he asked, confused.

"Who's the woman?" asked Zahira as she looked up at Dania before looking back at the boy.

"She's an elf! She wears odd clothes I've never seen before. She has two friends," The boy began to shake, "They killed most of our village and imprisoned the rest in the castle." He began to whimper as the memories flooded back to him. He continued to shake violently and Zahira hugged him.

"Can you tell us more?" Asked Dania who bent down to the boys level.

The boy nodded, "She has blonde hair like her," he pointed at Dania, "Except her ears aren't very pointy. And she has the ability to control water or something. Please help us! I managed to escape but the lord of the village and many of the other villagers who survived are being held. I'm not sure how much longer they'll keep them alive! You guys are knights right?"

Zahira nodded before breaking the hug and standing up. The ground began to shake as the boy held onto Zahira and yelled. Zahira looked around for the cause. It didn't take her long to see a dark blue hand holding onto the roof of a building. She quickly took the boy and set him a decent distance away.

"Wait here ok? Don't be scared, I'll protect you." Zahira said. A pit of darkness appeared under the boy before it encapsulated him in a pitch black dome. Zahira turned her attention to the massive creature peering down at them. Iaceo and Dania were staring in shock and panic. Zahira heard a voice behind her.

"Hand me the kid." said a feminine voice.

Zahira saw her. It was Mira.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Zahira. She guarded herself.

"My name is Mira. Hand me the boy and I'll let you three live." Mira said.

The massive creature lifted himself up fully towering over all of them. Its hand was the size of the buildings. It was a behemoth and radiated an ancient energy. Dania immediately noticed it. She recognized the similarities between it and her abilities. It was a manifest.

"Shit she's an articant. She has her manifest. Although I think I know this one. The water titan. It's a lower tier god, heck I'm not sure if you could even call him that he was a guardian of sorts of the ocean I'm not entirely sure." said Dania. Her body began to give off a yellow aura as the sky began to change to a deep shade of yellow. Four chains appeared on her body wrapping around her arms and legs.

"She's an articant with her manifest?" yelled Iaceo as he gritted his teeth.

"Don't worry, not many people know this, but manifests are easier to control the weaker your god is. Water titan is innately a weaker god so it should be possible for us to possibly win if we play our cards right." Dania yelled as the massive water titan roared.

Iaceo wasted no time. He wanted to take out the Titan's main source. He pulled out his needle and wire. A liquid began to secrete from his cheek and he quickly jabbed the needle into the substance before flinging it at Mira at high speeds. Mira dodged it by simply moving her head.

She smirked, "Oh wow this might be easier than I thought."

A massive pillar of water spilled onto the sky as it trapped Iaceo. He couldn't breathe as he felt the water forcefully enter his body. He tried to move out the pillar, but the water pressure was crushing him. His vision became blurry. He could no longer see. No longer could he hear or feel.