Rael wakes up from unconsciousness and goes after his squad, and he fights with Kat, once again.
Chapter XI, Simmering: Written on February 15, 2022. 0 words from the Storyteller. 490 words from the story itself.
Chapter XI, Simmering: Written on February 18, 2022. 10 words from the Storyteller. 932 words from the story itself.
Chapter XI, Simmering: Written on February 21, 2022. 52 words from the Storyteller. 578 words from the story itself.
Total word count: 62 words from the Storyteller. 2000 words from the story itself.
Rael looked into the valley, following how everyone moved around. Aurielle, Jean, and Exiled went all around the fight, as they remained somewhat united to attack their opponents together. The two magic users he didn’t recognize were similar, but they often remained separated to attack from different directions. And there’s Kat, who didn’t move around too much—but her metal-like attacks flew after his allies all around the valley. Along with that, the two unknown wizards chased after Rael’s allies. One of them moved like a fire blast, that violently flung itself towards Aurielle and Jean. The other one crept around the shadows after the Exiled—Rael couldn’t really tell if this shadow wizard was one person, or a horde of shadowy people flocking after the two, like a murder of crows. The fire wizard and shadow wizard reminded him of some encounters, but that’s not what he wanted to overthink right now. He didn’t want to mess up again, so he wanted to look for a decent entry into the fight—to help a knight, his mentor, and a fellow student out. Following the fire wizard’s direction along the cliff, his magic energy charged in his arms. And he looked down once again. He waited, and aimed at them from above. He charged the magic energy into his palm, holding it back. By the time his hand weighed down, he cast a massive wood magic blast downwards, aiming to hit the fire blast wizard.
And now everyone in the fight noticed him. At this point, he didn’t care too much about staying stealthy—as he jumped down into the valley, casting a wooden platform to guard himself against the incoming attacks. Once his platform hovered at everyone’s level, he heard Jean freaking out as he continued attacking the fire wizard with his spells, to the point of burying their body into the river. After hearing Jean warning him to watch his back, he cast his wood attacks backward and turned back, only to notice the shadow wizard’s face up close. Before Rael could attack back, Exiled and Aurielle knocked them away with their attacks.
But once the shadow wizard got knocked away, he saw Kat swinging her arm above, flinging Rael’s platform upwards with her cold metal magic. He tried to get out of the platform, only to get hit by the metal that kept sending him higher and higher. Once it stopped, he could only see the skies surrounding him. As he got up, Kat appeared right in front of him. Upon noticing her, the cold metal formed on his neck, choking him. Instead of reaching for his own neck to break the metal, his hands reached out to grab her throat, strangling her back. Kat tried to break Rael’s hands away, only for him to dig his nails further into her skin. Before he could consider using his magic, the metal that tightened around his neck broke apart. Now’s the chance.
The readers voted for the option where Rael releases the grab from Kat’s neck.
Rael strangled Kat further and further, until the anger in her face weakened. It was the same face he remembered seeing, when he was strangling the other people that he had beaten up. He’s familiar with that expression enough to guess when she would pass out, and maybe when she would never get up again. Her fingers clung to his arms. And once she gagged, something Rael didn’t want to remember returned. She’s still his family. Rael’s grip loosened for a moment. She isn’t, he repeated to himself. But once he tried strangling her again, the same thought repeated. She’s still his family. Rael buried all the thoughts—about Kat being his family member—into the back of his head. If she was really his family, why would she attack him? Why didn’t he know she existed, until that day at the Bronze Grasslands? Kat’s eyes closed, exhausted from her attempts to break free. She’s still his fami— And Rael shook his hands off her neck, dropping her body onto his magic platform. His hands froze in the place, realizing what he did.
He tried killing his twin.
That was the realization he didn’t want to hear. It didn’t matter how much he tried to deny that Kat wasn’t his family, that realization had already sunk in his heart. Kat got up with dizzied motions, but she could still cast her magic. Rael blocked the frozen iron attacks from her, and he noticed the smug look returning to her face. “What’s wrong?” Kat asked, with a sneer in her voice. “Giving up already?” Rael didn’t answer. His head still felt hazy at the thought of her being his family. He didn’t know what to define her, except for this one sound in his head that kept insisting she’s his family. “Perhaps you’re too good to kill… a twin?” He didn’t even bother attacking back, despite the taunts. The numbness from Kat’s attacks felt lighter than the fact he tried to kill a family member. Though, there were several questions that needed to be asked, now that she’s here. But what to ask? Looking at her, and thinking about his life before they met, he had an idea. Since both of his parents had never mentioned Kat before, and he just met her a few days ago, he thought Kat might have some clue about it. “Why haven’t I seen you around before?”
She froze, looking right into his eyes. Kat said something under her breath, as she shut her eyes. And once she opened them, that smug was gone. As Rael expected her to answer, her hand grabbed him by the shirt. She wouldn’t say anything, as she prepared her fist, ready to punch into his face. But as he expected the incoming attack, he felt something odd. She could’ve punched him right away, but why hadn’t she? Was that punch meant for something else? She didn’t seem like she was preparing for a stronger punch. There’s something in the way her hand went between being tense, and being relaxed. He couldn’t really figure out what this could mean. He only knew that she hadn’t punched him yet. Kat’s grab on his shirt didn’t make him lose that much balance, and his arms were still let loose.
Rael pulled her in for a hug, tight enough to trigger some reactions from her. His arms tightened around her as she tried to break free from the hug—and she gave in, wrapping her arms around him. He held her with all the guilt inside him. He had been lying to himself—even if Dacien, or Aurielle had hinted about their connections before. Everything Rael wanted to say right now, was let out by the way he hugged her—like how he did to his parents, siblings, and the rest of his family. He couldn’t tell if Kat would think the same, but that’s all he could do.
“…How’s your family? Like the one that took you in,” Kat quietly asked. Rael nodded at the question. “Good.” She paused for a moment, as if she just learned something new about him. “Huh… When are you visiting them again?” “After this whole thing’s done, maybe.” “Oh.”
Then Kat stopped asking, burying her face in his shoulder. He wasn’t sure if they were hugging for an awkward amount of time—for someone he would consider a stranger—and for the current situation. And she broke the silence. “I have an idea.” “What?” “You want to find the ‘truth’ of our blood family together?” “What truth?” “Everything the family has been hiding from everyone, especially both of us. And I’ve found one of them—” Kat shifted her head, looking at Rael. “It’s you.” “… Mind explaining that?” “I’ll try.” Kat’s loose hug had gotten tighter. For someone who tried killing him before, he didn’t expect this kind of snuggly hug from her. “You’re supposed to be dead, according to… my old family. Yeah, I’m calling them like that from now.” “Why?” “From what I’ve scraped, it’s something about my old dad. He wanted you dead for some reason, I don’t know. I thought I was a single kid, until—” And Kat stopped with an awkward silence, making Rael rub her back. “…Yeah. Let’s say I’m trying to figure out the ‘why’ too. But at least, I finally knew you exist—even if you know, you’re following those ‘heroic’ guys around.” “Uh-huh.” “After those people below us are done with their fight, are you coming with me?” As Kat asked, Rael looked down below his wooden platform. He couldn’t see much, but they were still fighting.
The readers voted for the option where Rael agreed to go with her, but he would bring her back to Aurielle and Jean.
It won’t be long until my duty’s done, by this point. Oh, wait. I haven’t introduced myself, right? I’ve been existing and assimilating my way into this storytellerspot for a few chapters, I believe? Hmm… I don’t want to stall my time here too much. Let’s wrap up this chapter together.
Kat invited Rael to join her in finding the truth of their blood family, but he had another plan, as he loosened the hug with Kat, and answered her, “I’m joining you.” “Alright, let’s end this then!” she answered, and jumped down from Rael’s hovering platform right away. Rael didn’t know what was up with her sudden glee, but he was happy for her. He dropped his hovering platform, and saw Kat doing a few hand gestures at the fight—while hovering on her own platform. The fire wizard noticed the signals, and froze. As they were about to say something to Kat, the shadow wizard dragged them away, disappearing into the dark shadows of the canyon. Kat waved at both wizards as they departed.
Aurielle, Jean, and Exiled watched as Kat drove those two wizards away from them, though everyone remained on guard—especially Jean, whom Rael just noticed the blood trailing down her face right now. “I’m b—Are you okay?” Rael asked, approaching her. “You’re bleeding…” “Oh, yeah, but…” Jean wiped them with her hood and glared at Kat, who stood behind Rael. “How’d you get her back?” Rael just noticed Kat standing behind him, and firmly grabbed her shoulder. “It’s… some family stuff. But hey, she’s coming with us, right?” “You’re the one coming wi—”’ Kat was about to argue with Rael on that, but after a moment of silence, she replied to Jean, “Yeah. I’m coming with you all.” Jean’s suspicions remained in her glare, and she turned to Aurielle to whisper some stuff, inviting Rael to join in. He leaned into towards the two, and heard something about stopping at a place, and getting more information from Kat. “Where are we bringing her to?” Rael joined in, as Kat and Exiled remained behind the trio. Aurielle turned to Rael. “You said family stuff, right? We could bring her to your village over there, or head back to Summer Hold, and tell David about the whole lost magic thing.” “Lost magic?” “Mhm. Assuming there’s only one Frostmetal Magic scroll over there, she’s the one who got it.” Rael stopped, as he just realized the name of Kat’s new magic, and that her frozen iron magic was actually a lost magic. He touched his neck while listening to Aurielle, as it still remained cold from being strangled earlier. “Summer Hold’s pretty far away, and since we took an entire evening here… It might be better to heal at Dezlea Town over there.” As the three continued to discuss where to head next, they occasionally looked at Kat to see if she had already run away—she hadn’t. She’s just watching the three along with the Exiled. “Now that I think about it… Let’s just get up from here,” Aurielle said, as she used her spells to get back onto the cliff, followed by Rael and Kat, and Jean who also brought the Exiled above with her magic platform. Once Rael got to the surface, he looked up for the stars and looked for his hometown’s location. Both Doom Village and Summer Hold were placed somewhere far away than his eyes could see, but as he looked towards Dezlea’s town direction, he noticed some trails of destruction scattered in the sand, leading to a town. “We could turn her in if we’re heading there. Not sure if the townspeople would feel safe with her being back there though—plus the Silent Tower’s people might want to talk to her too.”
The readers voted for the option where they would head to Dezlea Town for a night.