See You Yesterday

Chapter 59: Charlie

"Dad?!" I yell when finally arriving, seeing him and Elvin locking blades.
I run over to him and stand in between them before he can raise his sword again. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Winning," he growls, pressing his body forward and stepping out of my way so they can continue to duel

"You wish," Elvin spits.

"Stop! Enough!" I yell, pulling out my own sword as a threat.

Leo lowers his sword, while I hold my free hand out in Elvin's direction, ready to watch him like a hawk.

Elvin shrugs. "You can handle this one, Charlie," he says, walking off and leaving me with my dad.

"Charlie. I'm doing this for you."

"I don't want this anymore. I never wanted this. All I wanted was to help out in the war when it came about, but now I know that because of that, it started the war. We need to end this."

"But this will make things so much easier for us, Charlie. We win this, and we can change the rule and we can all be together in Xenia as a family."

"Family comes in all shapes and sizes. I consider the people who made me feel like I belonged as family. As well as you and mum."

"Are you sure? Charlie, we'd have to leave you again."

That's what hits me. Being left by my parents again.  But I need to learn how to use teleportation properly so I don't overuse it. If I don't learn, I could end up hurting myself and others, or even blacking out again.

"Dad. You aren't going to lose me. This time, I know where you are and I know that I'll be coming back to you. Please call the normals off."

"It's too late," he whispers. "Charlie, if you don't want this, we have to leave. We have to find your mother and we have to run for it. It's too dangerous here."

"And leave everyone else to clean up our mess? I don't think so." I try to turn away from him but he grabs my arm, his grip tight.

My mum is limping towards us, her hair messy and her face covered in ash.

Leo loosens his grip on my arm when he sees her and rushes over to help her walk. Dropping my sword, I do the same.

"What happened?" He asks my mum.

"I chased him for as long as I could. For someone with metal hands, which I'd assumed would give him away, he's good at hiding. I tried to speed up and went over on my ankle. That's how I lost him."

Leo nods and turns to me. "Charlie. Your mother is hurt. And you will be too if we don't get out of here. We have to go. Now."

I am about to refuse when I see Mac having a quiet word with Elvin in the distance.

Elvin nods his head at what she is saying, and then she walks towards us

"Leonardo," she says to him. "We need to end this, yes, but we end it with a win. I've made a deal with Elvin. He was reluctant, but I persuaded him in the end."

"What deal?" Leo asks.

When my parents turn away from me, I know that this is my one chance of escape. I see Quinn in front of a burning building in the distance, struggling to summon water to put the flames out. As I run towards her to help, that's when I hear his voice.

"Quinn, I swear to God, it's dangerous here! Get away!"

Derythian must be trapped, and he wants Quinn to leave him- he wants us to leave him to die.