The Search For Peace 2

Chapter 26

Karl Anderson kicked the snow under his feet, the breeze crisp as it hit the drying skin on his face. "What's taking those Saggitarius idiots so long today?" He scrunched his sharp nose with disgust.

"They're probably trying to read our location." The Gemini girl who was with him, Charlotte Macfarlane, told him as she pulled out of the icy shrub she was hiding in. Her brother, Charlie, appeared from the opposite side, the two all but identical in their ragged brown cloaks. 

Karl scoffed at that, shoving his hands into his gray trench coat. "You mean with those freaky eyes of theirs? That reminds me..." He regarded the short twins skeptically. "How come you two haven't copied their powers already? We've been out here for days, fighting them."

"If we copy new powers..." Charlotte started,

"We'll forget the old ones we've memorized and kept for so long." Her brother finished for her. It was creepy how the two spoke sometimes.

"I see." A sudden rustling in the evergreens in the distance reached his ears, making him turn with a start. "They're coming." A smirk broke his lips, the two Gemini's silently advancing.

"Arcane Mimic Craft..." Their eyes shone an eerie yellow as the twins summoned their magical energy. "Cloning." And just like that, replicas of Charlotte and Charlie Macfarlane multiplied, until the forest of white was all but crawling with them.

The next move they called out wasn't their own. "Arcane Ice craft!" Charlotte's clones announced, "Jagged chains!" It was the very move that boy Sanjay had used back in the clocktower in the Capricorn Can, and it was quite efficient if she did say so herself.

With it, her clones cleaned the trees of the lurking Saggitarius, the many chains of razored icicles slicing the branches they were seated on with ease. Through the many eyes of her clones, she watched the brown clad and booted individuals fall onto the cold snow.

Of course, they shot at her clones, but their bullets always passed through them, leaving a cloud of smoke behind them. They were powerless against her.

Meanwhile, Charlie's unit shouted the move of the famous Ultima Silverblitz. "Arcane Fire Craft: Flame Burst!" His clones lit up and ascended the trees, kicking and punching the Saggitarius soldiers with burning limbs. 

Just like always, they were winning. The Saggitarius, outnumbered, unable to affect them with their measle shootings. Their only strong suit was that they didn't give up. And it was the very trait that led them to their victory, that fateful day.

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Adrian breathed out his cold breaths as he readied himself for what was to come. Closing his eyes, he steadied his shaking legs on the snowy plain, curling his fists. He willed those fists to become paws, gray fur covering the top of his hands, his palms now padded, his nails as sharp as knives. 

After that came the extra set of ears, wolf ears, that protruded out of his scalp, tickled by the slight breeze. He gnarled as fangs grew from his mouth, his animal instincts urging him to get on all fours.

With his hoodie billowing in the window, the boy that was now half-wolf gazed eagerly at the mountain range in front of him, lined with whitened trees, filled with more of his kind.

He drew in a breath, his head lifted to the sky. And then he howled, his voice high pitched like that of a whistle, a calling only the wolves understood. When he opened his eyes and looked back down, he was pleased to see the many bodies of grey and black littering the scenes, the thudding of their rapid footsteps intimidating to most. 

Their leader, the wolf that he had met with Karen twice now, joined him on the elevated hill, passing him a reassuring look. He smiled down at him, slowly standing up to face all of them. 

"Follow me, you animals!"

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All was going as planned. They had gotten this close to the stupid Clan of the Saggitarius, and now all that was left was to infiltrate them and force them to oblige. Karl let out a satisfied snicker as he made his way through the forest. The elders would be so pleased with him now. 

After embarrassing himself in the last mission in his school M.U.A by those lowlifes, he was determined to earn some respect. The Geminis would handle the fighting, while he would do the 'negotiations'. 

A sudden rumbling in the earth made him halt. It was an unfamiliar sound like a herd of sheep was tumbling down a hill. He dismissed it as belonging to the many clones of the Gemini. But that's when a click reverberated through his skull. 

"Abandoning the fight, are we?" With an excessively beating heart, the boy raised his arms in defense, knowing all too well that click belonged to a gun. Craning his neck ever so carefully, he met the face of his apprehender.

It was a girl, frail and small, wearing a poncho that matched the dull color of her hair. He almost relaxed, thinking that he could handle a chic like her, but then he noticed the glare her strange eyes were emitting.

"I asked you a question, Capricorn." She demanded in her soft but intimidating tone, positioning her pistol on his head again. He gulped as the blue in her eyes shone like fire, the black gleaming with malice. "You dare to run away?"