The Heritor of Illipia

Chapter 15

Looks like I finally got about halfway through the book. I really need to pick this plot up...plus I'm way past due on chapters...
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        He had refused to leave his room the previous night wanting to stay away from anything regarding talk of his potential betrayal. Sure, he was supposed to have gone to speak with the team about what had happened at the fire temple, but that particular meeting had never happened. Elesis had been too busy taking care of Elsword who was left with a slight fever after recovering from the initial effects of the lava under the temple floors.

        Ara had returned to check on him since he had refused to leave his room. Eun had even commented about him starting to act like Zhu, whatever that was supposed to mean. That wasn't even the worst of it. (Y/n) had not been able to leave in order to soul hunt. No one was keeping him from doing so but he knew that if he left during the night, he would only make things worse.

        He didn't know it for sure but he assumed that even though Zhu was no longer with him, he would still need to hunt for the souls of other living beings. It was only a notion that he'd created after realizing that he often didn't feel like eating. In fact, he hadn't eaten anything since arriving in Lanox and it sort of bothered him. "Ykuei, stop staring at me. That's creepy," (y/n) suddenly stated from where he sat on his bed.

        He hadn't had a single moment of solitude aside from whenever he had changed clothes and made sure Ykuei was out of the room. Still, he had no real alone time thanks to Ykuei's presence, but the hybrid child was keeping him much needed company. Even when he had been in the deserts of Sander, he was never alone. Even when Zhu was silent, (y/n) knew he was there, and he was used to that feeling. Ykuei was somewhat doing the same thing except it got a little uncomfortable when Ykuei stared at him like he had been doing.

        "You're upset. Why?" Ykuei noted. That much was obvious but it probably wasn't something Ykuei would understand even if (y/n) explained it to him. He had been there to witness everything that had taken place back at the Temple of Fire, so (y/n) doubted Ykuei would get an understandable answer to his question if he hadn't already figured it out himself. "Don't worry about it. Everyone will be waking up soon so we'll need to be there to keep things from getting any worse," (y/n) said before getting off his bed and stretching.

        As he did, he noticed someone's familiar presence getting closer to his door, but it wasn't Ara. Ykuei disappeared from sight as the knock was heard at his door. "What are you doing up so early?" (y/n) asked as he opened the door seeing Chung in his full set of armor and ready to go in a moment's notice. He'd known Chung was there but he hadn't expected him to be battle ready. The only thing missing was his cannon.

        "We're going back to the fire temple to prove your innocence," Chung stated. He seemed rather confident in what must have been his own plan but (y/n) already saw a major flaw in the attempt to clear his name. "Why would we go back to the place where I was accused by ourselves? Then Elesis will think I'm trying to cover up evidence and you'll be dragged down alongside me. That makes no sense," he muttered with a sigh and a facepalm. Chung frowned at him.

        "I know that doesn't make sense which is why we're taking Aisha and Eve with us. Everyone else is asleep and Ara agreed to stay behind and explain things for us while we're gone," Chung explained. He looked as if he was suddenly a little unsure of his idea but he didn't say anything more as he waited for (y/n)'s response. It made sense for Chung to have asked Aisha to join them but taking just Aisha wouldn't be enough. As if reading his thoughts, a certain someone made their presence known as they approached.

        "Perhaps I could accompany the three of you. I'm rather curious of the situation myself and based on your conversation just now, I don't think any of you are traitors. Besides, I never suspected either of you. Someone else is a traitor among us," Add spoke as he walked down the hallway towards (y/n)'s still open door. At the moment, (y/n) wasn't even worried about why Add was awake or even volunteering to go with them. He didn't even care that Add had been listening in knowing that (y/n) was aware of his presence. He was more concerned with the fact that Add knew there was a traitor and hadn't mentioned it beforehand.

        "There really is a traitor?" Chung questioned in surprise as he turned his attention to Add who nodded in confirmation. "You already know who it is, don't you," (y/n) spoke. He could tell. Although (y/n) did not know Add very well, he could easily tell that Add knew or at least had a pretty accurate guess. Add said nothing in response to the accusation but he did speak. "We should leave soon. I don't know when the others will wake up," he said. He ignored the looks of suspicion that were shot at him, choosing to suddenly take interest in his dynamos before taking his leave. Chung sighed before turning to leave as well.

        "I'm counting on you to handle things with your mother. I have a feeling she'll be there. I know what it's like to have family on the erong side of the battle so I won't interfere," Chung said before walking away. (Y/n) wasn't sure if Chung had mentioned his mother out of true concern or so that he could convince (y/n) to go with him. Regardless of the reason, Chung wouldn't have needed to convince him into going. There were questions that needed to be answered and going back to the Temple of Fire would certainly get him answers.

        "I'll be going too, right?" Ykuei asked from behind the door. He still seemed worried about (y/n)'s well-being but there was a hint of warning in his voice. The way he'd asked his question alluded that if (y/n) didn't take him along, something bad would happen at the inn while they were gone. "I don't see why not. Ain would likely try to kill you if I left you here alone," (y/n) muttered with a shrug. He saw Ykuei's glance of fear when he mentioned Ain who disliked any and all demons, halfbreed or not. Even so, Ykuei still questioned him on the matter again.

        "Are you sure you want me to go with you?" he inquired. There was surely a reason behind why Ykuei had asked such a question but (y/n) didn't really want to know why. It didn't sound like anything good was going to happen so he didn't feel like adding anything else to his stress level. Whatever was going to happen would just have to happen. "You make the decision to go yourself since you can't seem to make up your mind," (y/n) said.

        (Y/n) froze after speaking though because as soon as he said those words, he felt a particularly sinister aura coming from Ykuei's direction. The ominous aura startled him and he would have retaliated by activating his own power, but as he quickly turned to face the hybrid child, he met Ykuei's gaze and was petrified by it. "I'm not going to harm you, I just need you to listen to me. If you don't make this choice yourself, someone is going to die. Regardless, someone is going to get hurt. Dryad keeps telling me things that I don't understand, and I really don't want to be at fault for someone dying. I'm not a killer. I'm not bad. I don't want to do evil," Ykuei said.

        He looked the same. Nothing at all had changed about him except his demeanor, yet the corruption of his heritage, his demon half, was present in his distress. (Y/n) could practically see the years of experience Ykuei had. He was serious about what he spoke of and knew more than what he told. "Now, I'll ask you again. Will I be going with you?" Ykuei calmly stated as his petrification affect disappeared along with his eerie aura.
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Yes, it's been a while. Good news though. I will be binge writing for this book only until I finish it. I'll go back and convert the book into my new writting set up later on. Until next time you excellent readers!