[Elsword] - Destination: Descendants

Chapter 4 - Ji

...

Ace tugged at one of the humongous crates, attempting to drag it closer towards him and I from the crowd of other junk, so we could have a better look at it instead of being distracted by everything else. It was going to be difficult, fitting both of us into the small corner where the treasure chest came from, anyway. From my peripheral vision, I could see tons of dust being carried along as he was pulling. Simply, it made me mentally cringe.

"Need help?" I pitifully offered. "I could do it instead."

Sweat was rolling down from the top of his head. "I-I'm f-fine, Ame! It's just that it's a lot h-heavier than the last time I saw it."

Clearly, he was having plenty of trouble with it, yet he still insisted on denying. I suppose it wasn't a bad thing, since I wouldn't have helped anyway. My laziness was there to blame.

...

Afterwards, when Ace finally completed the job, he dusted off the lid with his orange and black jacket-sleeve before sliding open the top cover of the box. I peeked inside, and so did he. It was empty.

His eyes were widened with surprise and worry, as his face immensely paled. "N-No way!" he stuttered.

"Ace. It took you forever to get that stupid carton over here, and now you're telling me that there's utterly nothing inside?" I glared.

"I swore that there was something--"

Before Ace could finish his sentence, a petite fox suddenly materialized in the package; its skin was as white as pure snow, and its eyes were as red as blood. The animal was resting, lying cozily with its eyes shut. I could spot him or her holding something: it was thin and long, and I couldn't exactly decipher what it was.

"How did..." I was startled, and surprised at the fox's sudden appearance.

"I don't know!" he said.

"Myuu..." the creature mumbled.

"A-Ame! I think it's going to wake up from our rowdiness!" Ace exclaimed.

"No sh**, Sherlock!" I rolled my eyes. "Idiot. Tell me something I don't know."

Ace's prediction was correct. Slowly, the animal woke up and blinked at us. It greeted us with another "Myuu" sound.

"Uh..." Ace awkwardly waved at it.

He or she began to speak. In English, which I didn't expect at all. "You two... are descendants of Ara Haan, am I correct? You are her children, right?"

Could "Ara Haan" be our mother's name? Her identity? At this point, I was a little interested, despite my promise years ago. I couldn't help it.

"Yes!" my brother replied.

How could he have possibly known? I nudged his side with my elbow, wanting a solid answer.

"Shh. I'll explain later." he whispered.

"I see. My name is Ji, and I am a female, in case you were wondering. Your mother, Ara, keeps a hairpin enclosing the spirit of the Legendary Nine-Tailed Fox, Eun. Those two are allies, you could say. Eun supplies Ara with power, but that doesn't mean that your parent is weak. She, is indeed, very strong without the support of the nine-tails. Anyway, I am of a similar entity, except Eun was kept safe within the Haan family for generations, while I, on the other hand, have been left astray due to my ability to become invisible. Yes, that also explains why I was concealed when you first saw me, why the package was 'empty'. However, I don't possess any knowledge of how I appeared inside this residence, so do NOT ask. I have been asleep for a while now, waiting for the day a suitable host would come join forces with me."

A brief pause transpired, but Ji proceeded on before Ace and I could react.

She pointed at me with her paw. "You are worthy. Although your demeanor requires some tweaking, that shall change over time. What I'd like to know is how this young man is able to deal with you all day long..."

It took a few minutes for me to process the new information. Questions kept popping into my mind, many of them, at that.

...

---[CHAPTER 4 - JI : END]---