The Tanian Legends

CHAPTER 7 - WE MEET A NEW FRIEND

<Benedict's point of view>

We were circling Xilos Academy to find Leo, it was tiring, yes. However, there is no way im letting Leo die again. We split into two, me and Mikey went towards the general area of Xilos, while Beatriz and Ean went somewhere else, I had no clue where.

"Leeee-oooo!" Mikey yelled "Where are you?"
"Maybe Ean or Bea found him already" I said optimistically "Should we check his house?"
"Do you know where his house is?" Mikey asked me
"No, I dont. Do you?" I asked
Mikey shook his head, "I dont either, bro"
I turned around and cursed under my breath, "Well.. shoot"

I stared at Mikey, trying to think of an idea to find, well.. of course Leo... or anyone else... The whole population has probably dissipated, assuming we are in the same timeline.. I want to tell Leo but I know he would... well... freak out.. and in our world, we call that a 'problem'

Mikey looked up to the sky, like he had an amazing idea, "Can we like... ask somebody? Do you have Beatriz's phone?"
"She doesn't use phones. She's that amazing" I said, almost blushing
"You like her, dont you?" Mikey asked
"I..She... is a sister to me" I managed
Mikey laughed, "I dont believe you bro"
My face turned red "She is a girl and she is a friend." I said "but she is not a girlfriend"
"You dont say..." Mikey said, looking down like he wanted to confess about something.. "Well..I kind of like...erm..."

I saw a man wearing a gray and dark blue shirt right next to presumably his house, he had a scruffy hair and looked like he was older than all of us, maybe sixteen or seventeen. Next to him was a girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen, she shared the same resemblance as his big brother.

"Look! We should ask them!" I said, obviously excited to see that we weren't the last humans.

I ran to them, forgetting the whole landscape was ice. I slipped but I regain my balance as I heard Mikey sighing in relief. I almost wanted to punch him for laughing while I slipped. I wasn't going to do that in front of both of them.

"Hi!" I said, wiping off the sweat from my head.

Both of them were silent, I was going to conclude that both of them were deaf, but Mikey approached from behind.
"Hey guys, have you seen a short boy with green eyes?" he said

I was going to ask who this green eyed boy was, I realized that he was referring to Leo, which was smart. They dont know who Leo is, so I guess thats how you find someone. Noted, I thought.

"No we haven't" the brother said "We were looking for our mother, after she left, well.."

He started sobbing, which really reminded me how... I took my family for granted.. It made me feel.. guilty for leaving them behind.. Dont say that! my mind kept saying, but I knew for the first time, words wouldn't help me in this scenario. "It's ok.." I said

He wiped a tear from his eyes as he spoke, "I mean.. You can see what happened, can you not?" he asked "I dont want him to die..."

"Forget it!" his sister said "Forget finding her! She's dead ok?! Dont you want to listen to your figurative princess?!"

Oh god, a narcissist. I told myself, my sadness turned into anger. I felt bad for him, not only was his mother gone, his sister was so... not understanding... even that was an understatement, judging from her face.

I turned to Mikey, I almost forgot about him... I dont know much about his past.. but he suggested that.. maybe he's an orphan... or maybe..

"Whats... whats that?" he said while sobbing
"Mikey..." I said, trembling, "Behind you!"

I pushed him out of the way and charged a ghostly figure behind him. The ghost dissipated, I would have loved to celebrate, but I knew this wasn't going to be that easy.

The brother and sister were shocked, to the point where he tripped and the sister dropped her mirror, she was crying, though it wasn't obvious why, if it was because of his brother falling or her mirror breaking. Probably the latter.

"Watch out!" I yelled

The ghosts materialized, into alot more of itself, it seemed like mitosis... or meiosis.. whatever the cell division thing was called. I knew I couldn't take them all on at once. I slashed and whacked at the ghosts using Osiris, my shadow dagger, a gift Beatriz gave me last year for helping her. And yes, I nicknamed it after the Egyptian god of the same name.

Mikey was using his fist to punch one of the ghosts, but it was no use. He fell to the ground, completely subdued.

Great, I told myself, how can I do this? The brother was still trying to comfort her sister, mumbling about getting her a new one. The sister still didn't want to talk to him, I knew if I pushed either of them to help me, they would harm themselves.

After a few more slashes, it came down to two ghosts, now both of them were throwing flames at us. One blue and the other green, similar to Mikey and Leo's eye colors respectively. I deflected one. I couldn't dodge them, the brother and sister were still behind me, and I forgot that I didn't even know their names, I couldn't be bothered to ask.

I saw the ghosts change form, they combined into one, dark ball of energy, from my old experiences, I knew it was their final stand. It kept charging, but everything I deflected it, I was being pushed back.

I heard the brother and sister finally settling on a compromise. They retreated slowly to Mikey, asking if he was ok. Which made have hope, even if they didn't know him, they were helping him, something I didn't expect in this world.

Good news: Mikey was finally safe
Bad news: I wasn't

I let my guard down, the ghost did one last charge on me, in the few seconds before the ghost would strike me, all of my regrets started to form. I also knew, because of my scarf, that if I die, Beatriz would die too. I hadn't told Leo how much of a brother he has been to me. Leaving my mother and sister, all of that happened as I closed my eyes.

"ARGH!" a girl's voice said

I opened my eyes, to see the sister at my feet, fading in a yellow light. Everyone converged to her, me and Mikey were horrified, but we haven't even seen how much this would affect her brother.. oh god..

"Im sorry... Matt" she said
"No! I cant lose you!" he said, who I presume is Matt.
"It's just..." her voice was fading "I.. Im so beautiful... right?"

As she said that, she disappeared into the ice...
Matt was sobbing, even more than earlier, "Zoe!" he yelled

We stood there... absolutely speechless. "She... she didn't..." I managed
"She saved your life...." Mikey said while shedding a tear
"Thank you.... I... I dont know.." I said, I was so grateful.. "why...? I dont deserve..."
Matt wiped his tears "Please.. I'll help you...Anything for revenge"
"Lets talk more at our camp.." I said
"You guys have a camp?" Matt asked
"Dont worry, Matt. I didn't know either" Mikey said
"Me and Beatriz were planning to meet at Xilos courtyard assuming we found Leo.." I answered
"We dont have Leo.. but this will do" Mikey added
"What are we waiting for?" Matt asked "I want to leave.. If we stay here, I'll probably never leave"
"He's right" I said

After a few moments, we were at Xilos, Matt told us stories about his family, which made us sad. My scarf was pressing against me, which meant Bea was nearby. I scanned the area until I saw two familiar silhouettes, Beatriz and Leo.