I felt Jaxton's grip loosening on mine and I held on with a squeeze. The squeeze was not a comforting squeeze, it was not a squeeze to say 'I'm here'. It held an urgency, a desperateness — it was saying 'Please, don't let me go'.

"Every one of us here had lost someone we loved," Robin was in front of us now. He put both of his hands on Jaxton's shoulder, moving his head to meet Jaxton's distanced eyes. "Don't lose another one to them again."

My heart began to ache. I gazed at Yoan's body on the floor, the puddles of red that splayed itself on the concrete floor... my hope was slipping.

If survival was the most important thing on my mind, I should give Jaxton a tug, beg him to listen to me, throw out arguments to say that it's not true — that I wanted none of this. Except nothing came out from my mouth.

The fingers wrapped around Jaxton's palm began to uncurl, the gap between our two palms began to grow... but as though suddenly awakened, Jaxton moved back, shrugging Robin's hands off his shoulder and wrapped an iron grip around my wrist.

We stepped into the cooler parts of darkness and I had to resist the urge to shriek at the sudden rising shadows. Their fast movements sent a whistle in the air, smacking Robin in the shoulders. Robin was thrown to the floor.

"Do you even know what they did? They hurt Vel. They were stalking her... and me! Do you really think they are doing the greater good?"

"Vel?" Robin began to look around uncertainly.

"Stop being stupid and come with us," Jaxton begged, "Please."

The gentleness in his grey eyes vanished. He slowly stood up, holding his chest with a hand, watching us like a stranger. He adjusted the rings on his fingers and grew quiet.

"Sounds like I have lost a brother."

"And a sister."

We turned to see Vel adjusting her gloves, her face cold, her words icy enough to prick blood. She also saw Yoan's body on the floor and her purple eyes moved away quickly. "I'm giving you one last chance, Robin. You leave this business behind or you'll have to deal with the rest of us."

"Vel-"

"Velvet," she retorted sharply. "I want an answer."

Robin's eyes moved from Vel to Jaxton and eventually landing on me. Before he even moved, I already knew what he was planning.

Jaxton and I moved apart. He attacked with his shadows and I attacked with ice. Robin's gravity pushed me to the side and he moved his free hand to divert my zapping frost to the side. Jaxton's shadows took him by surprise, cutting him by the waist. Jaxton unsheathed his dark blade and with two quick strides, he was launching at Robin with stealthy yet speedy precision.

I knew both boys didn't actually want to hurt each other so when Robin dodged out of the way, I could sense that a part of Jaxton had already expected it and he did not redirect the blade to Robin's weak spot again. Yet, even when Jaxton wanted to show mercy, Robin seemed to remember that he had a plan that was far more important than the Dawn siblings.

Robin enhanced the gravity on Jaxton's weapon and stuck it to the floor, booting Jaxton in the stomach. Jaxton's grip slipped from the handle, his sword clanked on the concrete as he flew a metre back. Vel leapt over Jaxton's body and soared toward Robin, tackling him to the floor.

She punched him hard in the centre of his nose first before Robin flipped her off him. I raised both arms, bringing up an ice platform. Vel stepped on an ice platform, tucked in her legs to flip in the air before she landed firmly on the floor next to me.

"Girl, you okay?"

I nodded.

Robin was back on his feet again and this time, he had back up. Marty appeared from the back, along with Professor May, Blayze and a few others. But they weren't the only ones with back up. Alsa and James had followed them back here. Without giving them a single breathing chance, James pulled out his dual guns behind his back with a twirl and pressed the triggers.

Alsa floated up into the air to avoid getting hit but as she was mid-air, she unsheathed her blade and zoomed herself toward Blayze. Blayze met her with fire but Alsa extinguished it by drawing out the oxygen. They crashed into each other, anklets meeting the jian, and the wind meeting flames.

Vel's gloves bled with a golden smoke, striking a girl in the stomach with a punch in the force of lightning. Marty aimed directly at Jaxton, somehow knowing that Jaxton wasn't able to Shadow Summon properly.

I pulled out Reflecta.

Please don't break. Reflecta, lend me your strength, please!

Jaxton held his sword with both hands, slashing the shadows that came his way. Every time his sword cut through the crows, they would shriek in a haunting manner. He also sent shadows at Marty but Marty was able to bring them to his side, his command held more power.

I shifted my weight and guided by their Shadow Wind, I landed next to Marty and struck him with a zap of frost. I stabbed Reflecta toward Marty, its tip giving off a dim shimmer as it took aim. It moved like a current in the ocean, seemly in a certain direction yet unpredictable under the surface. As Marty dodged to the side, I twirled the hilt in my hands and went for his weak spot down his legs.

Marty dodged again, casting a crow there as a sacrifice. He side-stepped but Jaxton was there to block him. Marty swiped up his arm and the crows blocked Jaxton's sharp blade, scraping past Marty's abdomen.

I was taken by surprise by Professor May's katana. She struck me on the arm, forcing a cry out of me. I didn't linger. I floated back with the weight of a snowflake, landing on an ice platform. I stepped up to the higher ground and shot myself at her katana.

Professor May had full hatred in her damp eyes. When our weapons crashed together, the edge of her blade skimmed Reflecta, moving like a fluid with the force of a thunderstorm, she heaved Reflecta to the side, exposing the front of my body. I pivoted on my heels, agilely moving past her blade as she slashed from side to side.

I held Reflecta at my side, reserving my energy by dodging Professor May's every move. I inhaled a harsh breath and kicked off a pillar. I raised Reflecta above my head and let it fall down with full force.

Professor May's katana blocked mine but she had to stumble back. I circled Reflecta as a ruse and went for her waist. Professor May turned her katana with her handle on top and her blade below, blocking my attack again.

Our sword clashed once again between us in our next exchange but Professor May pushed harder, forcing my back to hit a stone pillar.

"Bring back my daughter...!"

I shifted to the side, letting her weight go. Professor May tipped forward, recovering with a step. She slid back with excellent footwork, piercing katana around my belly. I leapt back and found myself trapped in her perimeters.

"You brought this upon yourself and you knew it!" I ran up the pillar and flipped. As I was coming down to the ground, Professor May's katana was going to meet me by the chest. It was horizontally cutting through the air.

I raised a palm, a blooming snowflake deflected the attack but it threw me back.

I looked back, extending an arm. An ice mountain rose and I skated along in a half-circle before I zoomed straight to May's katana.

Professor May stepped to the side and I soared through. I spun in the air and landed on the ground, standing with a roll.

"I've lost my husband in the Dark Ages and now, you take her away too..." Her focus wasn't on me anymore. Rather, she was focused on something else.

James had just made rough contact with the ground. With one elbow on the floor, he tried to get up but a certain pain held him back.

Professor May diverted me to the side with a back and forth katana chop. I moved around to dodge, trying my best to keep an eye on James.

The next moment I see Blayze preparing her flames, about to engulf James whole, while Alsa was rushing toward him.

JAMES

James slid on the ground, letting a man with ice powers soar over him. He drew out his gun and aimed behind him, hitting the man on the nape of his neck.

James recovered to a stand, his gun already combined to extend to a spear. He held it with both hands, moving the spear in a circle and testing out the movements of his enemies with the tip of his weapon. One decided they had enough of his taunting and leapt. James diverted the spear toward his abdomen and watched as his spear shimmered and drew blood. The other two thought they had a chance to break into his weak spot but James moved the spear to his right hand, swung it to the side and hit them both in the chest.

He threw his spear into the air, hopped and gave his spear a kick. The spear struck them both again, stunning them. James shot out his hand and grabbed his spear before it hit the ground. With a turn of his feet, he dodged a ball of flame and converted his spear back to his dual guns and shot the two stunned enemies at the same time.

Next, the fire girl.

The fire girl was unstable. She had just lost her twin sister so she was releasing every inch of her anger and despair at them. So when James extended both arms to block the flames with panels of glass, the heat tore right through them, shattering them into pieces.

The hot flames cut past his cheeks, forcing the coldness to leave every inch of his skin. He stumbled back, wiping a drop of sweat from his chin with the back of his hand.

He watched as the fire girl drew the flames high, a phoenix opening its wings. His glass powers won't help him too much. He threw up his guns, held them tight in both hands as he resorted to dodging. The flames were always inches away from him and he knew her patience was growing thin.

She let out a battle cry and grew the flames into a wild, deformed beast. James let out a harsh gasp when the beast tore down everything behind him. The boxes began to burn and the air was no longer flowing around him — it was chokingly dense.

I need to get out of here.

James aimed his gun and fired multiple shots. Fire girl had to retreat and hold back some of her power. James walked and fired, his aim was a bit lousy on purpose, only meant for her to draw back rather than take her out. He knew it was hard to take her out with a bullet against the walls and walls of flames.

James skid to the floor. Aim. Fire. James jumped, turned, drawing out his gun. Aim. Fire. James landed firmly, knee on the ground. Aim. Fire.

Without looking, James could sense from the rising heat that the fire was pursuing him. He leapt to a pillar for a hideout as the flames burst around him, it's fiery jaw almost swallowing him if it weren't for the pillar. And, thanks to it, he was mainly intact besides a sizzling burn on his elbow. He held back the pain with a clench of his jaw, twisted his good arm out from his hiding. Aim. Fire. Except this time he only knew of her general direction and fired blindly.

He rolled to the next pillar for safety, the roaring flames tailing him. He swished back to the other side of the pillar and shot out flying glass daggers. He heard the girl let out a cry and using her recovery time, he kicked off a box and aimed.

He already heard his guns clicking in place, the glass powers following the bullets already wisping in the air. It was aimed straight at her chest, in the gaps between her ribcage for the vital organs within.

But, tough luck on James, a blast of shadow suddenly changed the temperature around them. It was cold and pleasant, drowning James in abrupt darkness.

He wasn't sure if the bullets had hit her but he took a guess that they didn't. In fact, whether teh fire girl was taken out was the least of his concerns. He sensed danger – the longer he stayed in the shadows the more advantageous the enemies' were. He was in their element, not his.

With a circular wave of his arm, a reflective glow showed him the nearest exit. His glass powers clinked and cracked against each other and James tore through the shadows. He didn't have time to react, but a crow flew over his head and zoomed toward him in milliseconds.

James shifted his body to the side, trying to swerve away from the attack, but it still struck him on his lower chest. It stunned him badly, his vision growing white. When he hit the ground, he felt the pain pull from back from unconsciousness.

Oh no, get up, get up. Two verse one downed prey is not cool.

James forced his body to move. He tried seeking support from his elbow but his muscles screamed with pain and his shaking arms didn't last. He collapsed back down, breathing hard as he held a palm to his aching chest.

He looked around him. The fire girl was already back in shape and she was holding the flames in her hands, her eyes burning in ember. Next, James' focus shifted elsewhere.

Alsa.

She was running towards him.

"Don't..." his voice was the weakest he had ever heard.

Don't come here... Don't come here!

But Alsa was already in front of him, drawing up her sword and shielding him away from everything and everyone. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back, in a struggle to get her to leave until a white blinding light exploded out of nowhere and a gust of wind pushed both of them to the ground... and he thought he heard someone yelling...

Iridescent.