Shadows of Atlas

19- Elvin's Show

A large red crytal stood in the place where the veil of light had once had shone. Resting inside of it was an unidentifiable figure. But before anybody could investigate further, the doors were blasted open and soon the room was flooded with StriveCo. soldiers. "Surrender now or else," One of them said. "I've had enough of this bullshit. I will kill all of you!," Christian's eyes flared with rage as the floor started to tremble.

"Forbidden Nature Art: Vines of Carnage," Christian said. The room then became infested with giant spiked vines that started popping from the ground and viciously attacked every soldier in sight. However, this was not enough to repel the attack as more and more soldiers began to appear and cut through the onslaught of vines.

"We can't fight this many!," Licel yelled as she blasted soldiers with her wind magic. "What should we do?," Kevin asked as he defended himself from the attacks. "We fight until we can't no more," Yoma comanded as she pierced many of them with their own shadows. The Corans kept fighting, but they knew that eventually they'd run out of energy.

Without a warning, the crystal started to glow and absorb energy from its surroundings. Then it started to crack and the figure's eyes glowed in a crimson light. The figure then proceeded to break out of its crystal cocoon and revealed itself to be none other than a young man in his late teens. He had black hair with white streaks and wore a red royal outfit with a golden crown with rubies encrusted in it. However, he was barefoot and his hair was a mess.

"He's here...," Brian said with tears of joy. "Who's that?," a soldier asked. "Fool! Don't you recognize that crown? It's him!," another one said. "You don't mean!," a third soldier yelled in terror. "The prince!," Zai yelled in excitement. "The bastard who took away Eto's life," Christian growled. Prince Elvin stood there surveying the situation for a while and one of the soldiers thought that he had let his guard down thus proceeding to try stricking him with his sword. "Pathetic," Elvin said as he kicked the soldier with minimal effort. The kick was so powerful that it crushed the soldier's insides and sent him flying with a sonicboom.

"What the hell? That's a behemoth not the prince!," Zai yelled in surprise as she saw the events that had unfolded. "Oh no...," Fernando said in horror. "What is it?," Andrew asked him. "He's barefoot, his legs are ten times stronger than my arms even with my special ability," Kevin said with his eyes wide open upon seeing him barefoot. "Vin once told me that he had to wear special shoes to prevent him from destroying the castle with his every step," Fabian stated. "Yoma," Elvin called her. "Yes?," Yoma answered indifferently. "Are any of my kingdom's soldiers in this very room?," he asked. "Nope, their shadows revealed to me that they're in fact StriveCo. soldiers," Yoma replied. "Perfect, prepare your shields. I'm feeling vengeful," he said with a satisfied expression as he gathered Chaos energy from the area.

"Chaos Wave," he chanted as he released a shockwave of pure energy and incinerated all of the StriveCo. soldiers in the area. "What the hell? He took care of those soldiers as if they were insects!," Zai yelled in shock. "So this is the power of the Guardian of Chaos...," Andrew mumbled to himself. Elvin walked towards the Corans, making a crater with every step and almost collapsed to the floor if it weren't for Wesley and Kevin who caught him. "Whoa, that attack nearly took everything I had, but it feels so good to have let loose that pent up rage," he said with a slight chuckle.

"Your majesty! We missed you so much!," Raisa said as she hugged him while crying. Not long after, almost all of the Apostles did the same. Yoma was a bit more reserved and gave a warm smile at her friend. "Guys, how many times have I told you to drop the formalities," he said with a sincere laughter. "Vin!," Fabian said as he jumped on his godfather. "Eh? What's this little runt hugging me for?," Elvin joked. "You don't remember me?," Fabian said about to cry. "Of course I do you little runt," he said laughing. "Hey! I'm a big boy now!," Fabian said and caused Elvin to laugh some more."And why the fuck are you barefoot?," Raisa scolded Elvin. "I guess having one's existence separated and then reunited doesn't include shoes," Elvin laughed as he realized that he was indeed barefoot.

He then looked at his cousin and was filled with pride. "I felt the resonance betwen your desire to find me and the Water Star from within Eto, thanks Bri," he said with as warm smile, but then changed into an angered expression and his red eyes changed into a more demonic red color. Kevin knew that he was the one Elvin was angry at and decided to back away slowly. "You! You insulted my adorable little cousin, called him a traitor, and called him a piece of shit!," he said as he lunged at Kevin and started smacking him repeatedly. "Uhhh Elvs, I'm older than you by one year...," Brian deadpanned. "I'm sorry! Please stop with the smacking against the ground, I'm getting dizzy," Kevin apologized to the furious dragon. "Fine, you are forgiven just don't let me catch you doing it again," Elvin said as he calmed down. "In his defense, we were all being manipulated by Lucious Braxtone," Yoma defended Kevin, who mouthed the words "thank you".

"Braxtone...," Elvin growled with anger. "He is the one behind all of this mess, he wants to do something called-," Andrew tried to speak, but was cut off by Elvin. "The Pseudo Chaos Project. I know this from Eto's memories," Elvin said. "What?," Wesley asked in confusion. "Well you see, as you both know Eto and Eon were my halves. Once they fused together, their memories became my memories," Elvin explained. "Interesting, but now that you're back we should destroy Lucious once and for all," Andrew stated with confidence.

"All right everybody, first we must go to the armory and arm ourselves against the fight against Braxto-," he was saying until he was cut off by a sudden punch from Christian. "You bastard!," Christian said full of anger. "What the hell Chris?," Zai asked him. "We won't let you touch him anymore!," Kevin and Fernando were getting ready to fight. "No! Let him, he needs to discharge all that anger," Elvin commanded and both of them got out of Christian's way.

"Take this you bastard!," Christian said as he sent his vines to attack Elvin, but he dodged the attack and grabbed the vines. He used his momentum to spin Christian around like a pendulum and smashed him against a column. "Is that all you got? I thought Eto's best friend would be strong, but I guess I'm wrong then," Elvin verbally poked harder at Christian's hatred of him and made him even madder. "Nature Art: Seed Barrage!," Christian said as he shot hard shelled seeds at Elvin. Elvin instantly vanished and appeared behind him and punched him hard in the face. "Tell me your reason for why are you trying to kill me. Do not play dumb, I can sense your killing intent from a mile away," Elvin ordered him.

"If I kill you Eto should come back! He deserves to live, not you!," Christian snarled. "You're an idiot!," Elvin yelled. That word made Christian flinch and Elvin took that chance and threw him against the wall. "So you think by killing the whole, both halves will come back? Is that it?," Elvin angrily shouted. "Yes! I need him back here!," Christian said as he attacked one final time, but Elvin slapped him once more. "You really are an idiot. You kill me and Eto dies as well. He is a part of me, always was and always will be," Elvin said. Those words resonated within Christian and made him lose the will to fight. Christian felt like the gravity had grown stronger upon hearing those words and dropped to his knees in despair.

"No...," Christian mumbled as his spirit was broken. He was caught by surprise when Elvin extended his hand and gave Christian a warm smile that reminded him of Eto's own smile. "Join me as my Nature Apostle and I promise you this, we will find a way for Eto to exist alongside me," Elvin said. "Hmph whatever, I won't try to kill you anymore. But do not forget this... I utterly despise you," he said coldly. "Fair enough, we should head to the armory and equip the best weapons for our fight with the head of StriveCo. Kevin, I need you to carry me since I don't have my shoes," Elvin suggested as he was determined to bring down Lucious. "Why can't you levitate? I mean you're doing it right now?," Kevin complained. "Because if I do that, I'll run out of magic you moron! My connection to the Chaos Force is limited due to me not being fully awakened! Also cause I'm lazy and I don't wanna waste energy," Elvin shouted in irritation. "Ugh fine, but only because we would get caught with those destructive feet of yours," Kevin whined as he carried Elvin on his back. "I like that idea, let's go!," Andrew said as they all went to search for the room.