The Hundred First Generation: The Ancient Power Returns

Chapter Twenty Four

There was Finley. 

He was standing in the middle of the road, staring at us with his arms crossed. He watched us for a moment before taking a small step forwards. Corinne, not caring about what was going around us, summoned flares of fire magic to her hands. The flames danced and crackled in between her fingers, making her seem even more threatening than she usually was. 

Upon seeing the fire, Finley held up his hands defensively and took a step away. "I-I mean you no harm!" he exclaimed. "Really! I'm here to help you out!"

Corinne stared at him for a moment before letting the fires in her hands disappear. She let out a laugh and pointed at him with one finger. "Wow! That's priceless! Absolutely priceless!" she cried out. "Yeah, because we're really going to believe that!"

"I know that you might not buy it at first since I'm wearing this uniform and all, but... I really want to help you. I don't want to work for the enemy anymore. I hate being around them. Please, find it in your hearts to listen to me and trust me on this subject matter. It's incredibly important."

"What is it about?" I asked, taking a small step towards him. Corinne was about to retort, but I held up a hand to halt her. "The very least we can do is listen to what he has to say. If we don't like the words that he speaks, then we don't need to listen to them. It's that simple." I faced Finley once more and met his eyes. "What is it that you need?"

"I need to tell you something about this whole mess," Finley said. "I know something that you all don't about the true one behind all of this, or Hakate as she is going by as of now."

"What do you know about Hakate?" asked Arianna, twirling her hair over one finger. "You worked for her in the past, so that means that you must know something..."

"I know that she's after you all," Finley told her. "You see, in the world of magic, if a mage claims the life of another mage, they automatically gain the powers of the deceased. Nobody knows where this system has come from, but many times it has caused bloodshed. I'm afraid that the cycle is repeating itself over once again. Hakate wants you all alive so she can take your powers for herself. In fact, I'm afraid that Hakate is closer than you could possibly believe."

"What do you mean?" I questioned. 

"I know who Hakate really is," Finley told us. "I've been working alongside another agent in this situation. Her name is Crenia. She and I want to stop Hakate once and for all before she ends the world in her lust for power. I can't tell you who Hakate is, but I can say that she's closer than you all could possibly believe. You won't think of it as possible, but... It's the case."

"Why can't you just tell us already?" Corinne asked in exasperation. "This would be over so much faster if you just told us!"

"I'm afraid that someone I care for is in danger of being killed by her if I don't comply. The fact that I'm here at all is dangerous," Finley told her. "I should really be on my way."

"Not so fast!" I told him, walking closer. I grabbed his wrist before he could create a rift and run off. "I saw you last night in our headquarters area, the abandoned house. It was the middle of the night and you were there. I heard what you said, too."

"What about it?" Finley asked, his face going pale. "I don't think that I said anything too important."

"You said that I'm your sister," I told him with a frown. "I need you to tell me. Is this the truth?"

Finley looked at me for a moment, his eyes meeting mine. I noticed just how similar we looked at that moment. Our midnight hair was the exact same. Our dark eyes were almost identical in shape. It was almost frightening how close we looked. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised at that moment if he was right about what he was saying, claiming that we were siblings. 

"Please tell me," I whispered. "If I really am your sister, don't I deserve to know the truth? You can't just keep me in the dark after telling me that sort of thing, you know. I'm not going to hurt you no matter what you say in response."

Finley looked down and let out a sigh. "Alright," he mumbled. "It's true. The two of us are twins. You're the only person that I have in this world, so I couldn't really stay away. I had to see you, make sure that you were doing alright since we've been pulled away from one another..."

"I can't believe this..." I whispered. "I have a brother? I never remembered having anybody in my life besides Mom... Did you go off with Dad? I heard from Mom that he left her behind when I was still young..."

Finley let out a small laugh and looked away. "If things were that easy, I'd tell you. Unfortunately, things aren't that way. I want to tell you the reasoning behind our separation, but I doubt that you're ready for it yet. Besides, a certain someone would be dead meat if I said a word about it," he told me. "I'm afraid that you're going to have to leave the subject alone."

Finley turned away and created a rift using a small dagger, the same one I had seen him use the night before. He disappeared through the rift not long after, leaving Arianna, Viveca, Corinne, and I alone in the street. 

Nobody spoke a word for a moment. I turned around to face the others not long after and pointed nearby to a house. "I think that the person we're looking for is in there," I told them. "Let's go and check this out."

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I've been more social today than I have for the rest of the summer wOW

-Digital