Entropy

OUET| Chapter V: Ending of the Enemy

Markus

It seems funny that I am now fighting demons with my own will. I am miles ahead of my own menacing spirits. I am not talking about Aelen. I gaze into the Jurusai Hot Lake. It's calm even with the mild bubbles. It's perfect for a hot tub. It's great to leave it as it is though. The geysers are not blasting hot water. I see myself staring back to me, caressing the small ripples like a massage. I dare not to ruin it and corrupt my image.

Naomi sits next to me, staring at her translucent portrait in the lake. It's the same as always, but it looks different. It doesn't match the appearance of what she looks like now. The image looks human. Her hair is brown with strawberry highlights, hazel eyes, with light skin.

"You still are you," I said to her while she is lost in nostalgia.

"Are you sure about that?" She asks. She is doubtful at best.

"I am. You look at yourself in the past. Don't think about it, but don't let it go. You are still here."

She turns towards me. She is not as scary as she looks. She goes, "You are you, Markus. It has been so long."

"About time."

"Markus?"

"Yeah?"

"I am glad to have met you even though it was a rough start. I'll remember eavesdropping on my parents' conversation. Mother believed she had no extended family. She thought everyone was dead, including you, but she was covering the truth at the time."

My lips curve for a moment. It has been forever since I was waiting for this. Finally, acceptance within the family. I sit down next to Naomi. I do have a family that is actually blood related. Family is not supposed to be perfect, but any kin that hears each other out and helps take care of them is worth a push. I am worried that I am going to lose it all again. The same painstaking timeline resetting. Naomi is immune to death, but that can go away in the future. Her father's mortality is unknown. Blathnaid is immortal, but not immune to death to an injury. I lived for a long time now; however, I am not afraid of death. If I die, so be it, losing myself is better than a loved one passing away. There is no way of bringing them back. Hoping that you'll meet them in the afterlife is the only method to cope. Alicia is a ghost in the McKelsey residence that I see every night. Elisse, she is not worthy to be called my mom and Elliot must be punished or suffer the worst reincarnation ever known.

Naomi takes a long inhale and lets go. She smirks. Her mind conjures the most cynical thought imaginable. Her mother is way different- Her mind is pure from any thought of madness or she withholds it just like her dad. She speaks, "This doesn't spare us from any rivalry though."

Ah, the family rivalry. I thought it was sibling rivalry. It can trail a long way. Sport and academic competition, successes, snitching, physical violence, to downright murder. The latter is rare. My step brothers, Scott and Collin, were in the snitching category. Should I be thankful that they didn't emulate Elisse's violence towards me? No and they were far from being brothers. They would've been rehomed if I didn't go the route that I took.

"--If you're up for it."

I stare at her. Her smirk is still present. I think I know where she is going. I grin back, "Sure. Don't kill me though."

Her sword manifests from pinkish-red lightning with blue mist. Her sword looks finely polished with no blood stains. Her armor follows after. Her medium-length hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her armor matches the blueness of her wings. Black branches- reminders of her empire cage the shoulders as if it's trying to protect them. "I have no intentions of killing you," she comments.

My armor emerges from the flames. I pull out my sword. I growl confidentially, "Show me what you were told from Bracus and the Teketa!"

She hops back, giving us space, so we can charge at each other. "Show me what Bracus and Forgison taught you."

The spar matches commences. We charge each other. For once, we are not trying to smite each other. Fire, lava, ice, red lightning lit all around us, more powerful than the blue star. Heat, coldness, and warmth pile at us in waves. It feels like an approaching thunderstorm when the temperature gets hot and muggy, then cold. We throw harmless taunts at each other to throw off each other's game. Both of us are even. There is nothing and no one impeding us. No one will stop us. Once we are done, the winner of the spar is going to feel the temporary triumph until the next round. That is how family rivalry works.