Golden Child [Rewriting]

*Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

"There are better ways to go about this." Vayu said reluctantly as he readied himself to place Ignis under hypnosis. His aura was calm, blue, but his eyes told another story.

"I know." Ignis said simply, "but this is the fastest way."

"The fastest way to kill you." Nuri muttered under his breath.

"It's risky. You could die in there," Vayu warned, "or you could be a vegetable."

"I'm aware of the risks. Just do it." Ignis replied with a tone of finality to his voice. As if he were saying an incantation, Vayu's fingers lit up with a faint blue light, and he placed them against Ignis' forehead.

"Don't blame me if you don't wake up." Vayu said.

"I'll just haunt your dreams." Ignis said as he was plunged into darkness. Vayu exhaled. At least the execution went well, he thought.

"So, now we wait?" Nuri asked as he bit down on his bottom lip.

"No, now we meditate. Then we wait." Vayu said with a smile and patted the spot next to him. Nuri reluctantly wandered over, and assumed the position. Vayu instructed him to close his eyes, and he did as he was told. He tried to clear his mind, he tried to stop thinking about the possibility that Ignis wouldn't wake up, and he tried to stop thinking of his sister and how he was going to have to face her one time or another. He tried to stop thinking that he was going to have to let her go, and that soon he would probably forget her face, and hopefully all her blood. Subconsciously he knew he'd never be able to forget that day, subconsciously he knew that the image of his once smiling sister would forever be replaced by the way her face contorted in horror the day the Knights chopped her head off. He knew he wouldn't remember the way his father used to take him hunting and let him light the arrow that he'd only remember their charred corpses and the way his tears seared through their bodies. Suddenly he couldn't sit down anymore. His eyes snapped open, and immediately he rose from his position. Vayu did the same, as if they had been in synch for a short period of time. A frown ripped through his features.

"I thought you said you were ready to face them." Vayu remarked as he watched Nuri run a hand through his hair.

"Well, apparently I'm not." He shook his head, "I can't do this. Not now." And then he was off, walking off the a secluded spot not far from their camp, trying desperately to forget Kai's face the day it all happened.

Avani suddenly shot up, and exclaimed, "I need to find her!"

"Find who?" Meri asked sceptically.

"Someone," Avani shook her head and looked down at Meri, who sat up, "pack your stuff, we're going to the Capital. It's time he learned the truth."

"What?" Meri's voice rung through the clear mountain air, "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"I know, but just... pack a bag, we're going to stir a corpse." Avani said as she disappeared from the room. Meri shook her head in confusion and rose from the floor. She tried to rack her brains for what Avani could possibly be on about, but couldn't find anything besides the guy she'd mentioned earlier, Kuro. Finally she followed Avani into her room, and watched as she folded clothes and place it neatly, but hastily into a satchel.

"What exactly are you going to do in the Capital?" Meri asked.

"I'm going to see some... family." Avani replied with a certain amount of hesitation to her voice.

"I wasn't aware you had family in the Capital." Meri shook her head in disbelief, "I thought you were an orphan."

"Please," Meri heard the desperation in Avani's voice as she spoke, "don't ask questions, just help me convince your father to let us go to the Sovereign Capital."