Magia: Eli's Awakening (BxB)

Chapter 46- Trimage

"Let's go find Aurum"

Ethan didn't need to tell Eli twice as they both set off into the castle. No one had occupied the outer ward. A few guards had been posted close to the gates but from there it was smooth sailing for the boys.

It was weird. Where was everyone?

The boys were able to safely navigate through the ward and made it into the corridors that would lead to the inner wards.

That's where their first obstacle appeared. Akira. She was dressed head to toe in her black armor, her ear piercings shone brightly as the light from the torches reflected off them and their symbol, the red angel, depicted on her pauldron. Her gold medallion proudly on display,  her black hair was still short and there was now a fading scar across her face from where Ethan had struck her.

She hadn't realized anything out of the ordinary which was why when Ethan lounged at her she hadn't been able to react in time. Ethan teleported them both back to the outer ward to allow Eli to travel deeper into the castle and find Aurum.

Eli knew that was the reason Ethan really decided to tag along and with that in mind he continued on wishing the boy luck.

"I will kill you." Ethan said, while transmuting the armor into a sycthe and stopping his spell. Akira's eyes widened when she realized who stood infront of her and as soon as her expression came it went.

"I'll say hi to Elana then."

Ethan's vision turned red and his wings spread out as he used them to propel himself towards her and tried to nick her with his sycthe but she saw that coming and blocked him with her sword.

The sword was jagged and it was leaking magicules. Whatever enchantment was placed on it Ethan didn't want to get hit with that thing.

He extended the blade of his scythe to try and get a cheap shot in but once again Akira saw this coming and dodged by backflipping away from the bloodthirsty teen.

He rushed her again, while slipping off two bracelets creating another scythe and a shield that he controlled with his magicules and used to constantly attack her.

She parried the attacks with her jagged sword and summoned two skeleton soldiers to assist her.

The two continued trading attacks that just couldn't seem to hit while Eli ran through the corridors and found himself in the field that connected both the inner and outer wards. He looked over to the other side and saw that it led into the inner ward, that's where his senses were telling him to go. That's where Aurum was.

He ran off towards the exit, his heart thumping rapidly at the thought of seeing Aurum, so he hadn't realized the spell ended.

He squinted his eyes as some light glinted to them and he stopped running instantly and threw his head back to narrowly avoid a sword going straight through it.

The black sword went on and landed itself in the grass beside Eli and he looked in the direction it came from and his eyes widened as they landed on Zeke's form walking towards him.

His golden locks fell in waves and rested on his shoulders perfectly. His black armor gleamed under the moonlight and his hazel eyes pierced the coal eyes of Eli as he looked at him with a quizzical brow raised, as if he were trying to figure out something.

He remembered what the banshee had said about him. It wasn't his fault, Morgana had done something to his memories and Eli would help him, after saving Aurum.

Zeke removed his sword from the grass and pointed it towards Eli. Eli noticed something different about him, he wasn't just outright attacking him. He was stalling. Why?

"Zeke."

"Elijah King." Eli had his hand on the hilt of his blade and none of them moved a muscle, both waiting for the other to make the first move. "How do you know me?"

That caught Eli off-guard, his hand left the hilt and Zeke used that as his chance to strike. He slashed at Eli forcing him to throw up a shield in between them both to prevent departure from his head.

"You're my friend, my brother!" Zeke gritted his teeth at that and added more magicules to his black blade and shattered the shield with his strength.

"Frabrications!"

"Zeke, they did something to you, I've known you all my life. You're my family." Eli was panting as he tried to somehow convey just how much he still cared for the boy.

Zeke was doubtful. He wasn't sure and that was feeding his doubts. There was something familiar about the boy that stood infront of him now, but to have been his family? That was preposterous.

He had vivid memories of Morgana saving him from the streets of Gestia, of training everyday until his bones screamed for some relief. He remembered the first time he felt love, he remembered all the good times he had with the Fidem, they were his family, not this random boy.

But why couldn't he believe that wholeheartedly? That was what was feeding his doubts. There was something deep inside him that was begging him to hear out the boy infront of him.

"You have two minutes." Eli's eyes widen and his mouth opened and closed like a fish. Two minutes to explain everything that had transpired and what he theorized had happened to Zeke. "Starting now."

Eli quickly told him about the fire on his birthday, not wasting a second. He quickly went over the events of the fire and how he woke up at Magia Academy.

Zeke stood still, his face void of any expressions as he listened to the story Elijah King was telling him.

"And a banshee told me that-"

"What do you take me for!?" Zeke's eyes flared with anger, his hands gripped the black sword and he attacked Eli, forcing him to block it with the sword he had.

"What the hell!?"

"A banshee? Do you think me a fool? I'll have your head."

"I'm not lying." Zeke fired a beam of light at Eli that he narrowly managed to dodge. Only an Evoker could use an attack like that. "You're a bimage."

"Trimage." Zeke stooped down and touched the grass and the area around Eli instantly transmuted into a thick mud that swallowed up Eli's legs.

Eli didn't panic. He created a thin barrier around himself and expanded it to push the mud from around him and used another barrier as steps to get out of the sinkhole.

Zeke was a trimage. That must be it, it must have some correlation as to why Zeke was taken by the Fidem. There were no trimages at the academy, Zeke was the first Eli encountered and it all made his brain begin to theorize.

Aurum was taken, Zeke was taken, they had tried to take Eli as well. The only thing they all had in common was their overwhelming amount of magicule production and raw strength.

Despite not being a noble, Eli's magical output was far more than that of any of his friends in his group that consisted of all nobles, he was sure it was the same for Zeke, and Aurum goes without saying.

The Fidem was collecting people with extraordinary amounts of magicules, that's what Eli came up with as his final theory, now he just needed to find out why.

"Zeke. I'll say this once more. You are my family and I will save you." Eli locked eyes with Zeke and a chill coursed through Zeke's body as he heard the resolution in Eli's voice. He meant what he just said.

"I'd prefer it if you had said we." Eli knew that voice. Deep, but not harsh, soft but not fragile, sexy but not overtly so. The heat pooling in his chest confirmed his suspicions as to who stood behind him.

"Javier?"