The Harbinger's Children (Guardians Of The Arcane Chronicles Vol. 2)

Chapter 19: Origin Point

Fun Fact: Very little research has been done to research the psychic realm and its influence on certain metas, mostly due to the small pool of human subjects and the blatant clash with current knowledge of arcani studies.

It has been theorised that a full powered psychic type would be akin to a powerful deity, with powers ranging from: astral manipulation, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, hydrokinesis, cryokinesis, electrokinesis, atmokinesis, telepathy, teleportation, clairvoyance, and many more.

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The dead were buried less than an hour later. Felix and Kleopatra stood around uselessly as pockets of people paid their respects quietly. After all, with less than half of the refugees remaining, there was no crowd for ushers to control. It did not take long for the number of mourning refugees to trickle down, and the Guardians wasted no time heading to the medical bay.

Gaius was already awake, and thankfully, unscathed as well. Felix heaved a sigh of relief while Kleopatra ran towards his bed.

"Gaius. Gaius...?" Felix cooed at him as though he was speaking to a wild horse.

"Tch. No need for that, man." Gaius looked away in embarrassment. "Don't worry, I'm all tapped out."

"You sure about that?" Kleopatra asked worriedly.

The sorcerer looked at his hands. "Yes. There was so much anger in me... So much negative energy. My magic began attuning to that instead and began to corrupt. And whenever something bad happens, it just takes over my body. I knew what was happening to me, but I... I just wanted to keep the power I got. I thought it was the only way I could save those I care about."

Kleopatra reached for his hands.

"But you still have magic within you, right?" Her eyes were wide with concern. "If you're alright now, does that mean that you lost Abaddon's magic?"

"He's back to the old Gaius we know. That's for sure," Felix replied in his stead, his eyes flickering slightly with power. "I don't sense two separate entities anymore. I believe your magic has been re-attuned to your soul. And besides, it was only the corrupted energy that was syphoned out of him."

"Question is, are you emotionally alright?" He pulled up a chair beside the boy. "I know you've just lost a friend right before your eyes."

Tears were welling up in his friend's eyes.

"No," Gaius replied honestly. "The power-up I had was an illusion, but my failures are very real. I couldn't save Parthena. I couldn't save Orion. Hell, I almost couldn't even save myself from the abominations. I'm not strong enough; there's no denying that."

"Not alone, you're not." Kleopatra threw her arms around him, holding the boy tightly. "But you have us."

"Kleo, about you and me..." Gaius began, but she shook her head.

"Not now, Gaius. Not until after we solve this crisis," the girl said with a stoic look that obviously looked forced. "It's better if we put any distractions aside for now."

The silence that followed was deafening, although Gaius looked slightly relieved for some reason. A light clinking dispersed the awkwardness of the situation as the trio turned to the footsteps behind them.

"Is everyone doing alright?" Cybele walked into the medical bay, carrying a tray of biscuits and warm milk. She covered her mouth as the sight of its sleeping occupants greeted her, and she decided to distribute the food at their bedside as quietly as possible.

"Felix, I don't suppose you know what happened to Aglaia?" The Guardian Leader was straight to the point as usual. "Witnesses said she had some sort of... psychotic breakdown?"