Chapter Seventeen

Elysia shot to her feet, startling Ione. Panic escalated with each pang of pain, but she was helpless to do anything other than ping the bond.

A razor-sharp stab of agony speared through her, far stronger than the previous ones, sending her to her knees. In desperation, she stared up at the sky. “Please Urus, can you help?”

Urus’s presence grew heavier a moment later. “What do you need, young elemental?”

As if kicked in the stomach, Elysia doubled over with a whimper. The pain dulled for a moment, allowing her to squeak out, “My twin is in trouble.”

“Twin? Elementals don’t have direct relatives.” Urus paused. “Ah, that explains some things. Where is your twin?”

The pain returned with force. Between gasps for breath, Elysia whimpered out. “2623 kilometers directly to the west.”

Urus’s presence withdrew, causing Elysia to collapse the rest of the way to the floor, pain radiating through her very soul in waves. Tears flowed from her glowing violet eyes curled up on the floor, with Ione lying next to her with worried eyes.

“According to my bale, there is a fleet of ships within a kilometer of your designated location. Other than rough seas, there doesn’t appear to be any reason for distress.” Urus’s presence suddenly vanished before returning a few seconds later. “My brother spotted a small vessel just ahead of the fleet. Am I right in assuming that is your sister?”

At the mention of a small vessel, a battered boat smaller than Umbra flashed through her mind, bringing with it the biggest pain yet. “Yes, that’s her! Help her!”

“My brother will do his best, but unlike me, he hasn’t grown his own city as he’s quite young for our kind. He’s barely within range, and I don’t like his odds against a fleet of that caliber. How did your sister earn the ire of the Elemental Counsel? They never mobilize unless given great offense.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen my sister since the merge. Just please do something!”

Urus withdrew once more, this time for almost ten minutes. By the five-minute mark, the pain shooting through her soul diminished and by the time Urus returned, it vanished altogether. “He has bought your sister sometime with a storm. Anything more would put him at risk. We Colossus keep strict neutrality unless directly threatened. If my brother wasn’t only a couple hundred kilometers away, there would be nothing we could do as any further he wouldn’t be able to create a natural like storm. However, your sister is on her own from now on. My brother cannot risk himself anymore and no more of my kind are within a thousand kilometers of her position.”

For the first time since arriving on Urus, Elysia’s eyes sparked with admiration. “Thank you. Is there anything I can do to repay you or your brother?”

“Yes, but not as you are. For now, focus on your own growth. Maybe one day you will find a way to repay us. From what my brother senses of your sister, if you are really twins, you have great potential.”

Elysia sat up as curious sparked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s not for me to say, but if your sister earned their ire, you must grow strong before they arrive.”

“Arrive?”

“My brother created a distraction with the storm and gave your sister a window for escape, but it appears both your sister and the fleet are heading this way.”

Elysia stiffened. “Should I take Umbra and leave? I don’t want to bring trouble to you.”

“No need. They wouldn’t dare attack a Colossus of my standing and as long as you are within my circle of protection, they will stay away from you. Use this time to improve yourself. If you wish to protect your sister, you must grow.”

“What about Mezo? Should I skip it?”

“When I arrived here, I announced my claim to Mezo. According to the old laws, Mezo is an extension of my domain until I decide to leave. Don’t worry, you may grow in peace.”

Despite Urus’s words, Elysia fidgeted as she prodded her bond, but unlike before, her sister appeared to be safe. Or at least a safe as she could be in the middle of the ocean getting chased by a fleet from some country she never heard of.

After Urus withdrew, Elysia climbed to her feet and returned to her closet to don her armor once more. Urus was right. She needed to get stronger. Every bit of strength would help her in protecting Sereia. Even if her sister wasn’t luring a fleet here, she still needed to protect herself against the humans. This world was very much might make right after the merge. She couldn’t slack in strength if she wanted to have a say in her future unless she stayed on Urus. As nice as the Chrotile have been, she didn’t want to live here forever.

Elysia strode upstairs and out on the rear deck with a determined expression, only to pause as her eyes landed on a plate full of burger like meat patties. She shook her head to banish thoughts of indulging herself in favor of training, but Ione had no desire to do the same. The not so little kitten hopped onto the table pushed up against the left railing, only to earn a swat on the snout by Eva.

Determination filled Ione as she circled around the plate under the watchful eyes of Eva. Fast as lightning, she struck, but a wall of webs greeted her a centimeter from the plate. She shook her head, but the sticky webs held fast to her face. A muffled hiss sounded, but the burger guard remained steadfast in her duty.

Unable to resist herself, a giggle escaped Elysia’s mouth mirrored by Eva after she wrapped Ione’s legs and webs and flipped her off the table. Even Joe grinned from his place at the grill.

Any thoughts of training left Elysia’s mind as she picked up her web tangled bond and sat at the table. Deciding to have mercy on the kitten, Eva dispersed her webs, but the look in the kitten’s eyes directed at her promised retribution. However, before Ione could fulfill her revenge, Elysia’s dexterous fingers turned her into a purry mess.

A few seconds later, Joe sat down next to Eva with another batch of burgers. On its own, Eva’s hand gravitated toward Joe’s.

Elysia eyed the couple with a smile. “So did you notice the projectile Thrazk?”

While leaning into Joe, Eva reached for some buns. “Oh yeah, he stopped by for a few seconds. Whatever he did, he probably deserved it.”

Elysia looked down at her bond, who was growing too big for her lap. “He did. He scared Ione while trying to show off.”

Following Elysia’s eyes, Eva gazed down at the purry and twitching fluff ball. “Definitely a punishable crime.”

Joe wrapped an arm around Eva’s shoulders before asking, “So, what really happened? We heard an explosion, then Thrazk flew our way. Fortunately, he landed on the other side of the lake or he would’ve soaked us.”

“He thought it was a good idea to destroy the arena to show off. If Urus didn’t stop him, he would have done more damage. You would think with a head as big as his, he would have a developed brain, but apparently not.”

Both Joe and Eva winced, but refrained from commenting. Instead, they worked together to prepare a dozen burgers in buns, leaving another half a dozen bunless. “Are we expecting company? Why so many burgers?”

Joe glanced at Eva, causing her to redden. “They had a sale. Buy a dozen and get a half a dozen half off.”

While shaking her head, she reached for a scaly plate and plopped a burger on. After a quick search of the table, she found several condiments, including ketchup, which she sprayed on the burger.

A shifting on her lap drew her attention downward to find Ione staring at her burger. With a sigh, she grabbed another plate and placed one of the bare burgers on it. The moment she set down the plate a silver a blur launched off her lap and landed gracefully on the table before nibbling on the burger. Within a few seconds, the burger vanished.

Before anyone could react, the other five bare burgers shared the same fate. However, before the glutton could attack the burgers, a wall of webs appeared. Learning her lesson, Ione retreated but not before sending a glare at Eva. Tail raised proudly, Ione hopped off the table and strode down the deck before curling up in a sunbeam.

After dispelling the webs, the trio nibbled on their burgers while making appreciating noises, causing a proud smile to form on Joe’s face.

Upon finishing her burger, a relieved and content sigh escaped. Apparently, she could still eat. Though she didn’t think she needed to. Could she get fat? Maybe she could comfort eat all she wanted to. With the shit that kept falling on her lap, she needed some quality comfort eating time.

Elysia eyed Eva. Did she buy ice cream too? She better have. At least she still had her chocolate stash as a backup plan. The thought of comfort food dropped cold water on her mood. Phantom pains from her bond with her twin forced her to her feet with a determined expression.

Without another word, she left the duo, who seemed about ready to jump each other, and strode along the narrow deck connecting the front and rear decks. Sensing Elysia’s mood, Ione followed along before curling up on one of the padded sunbathing pads though she kept an eye open directed at Elysia, who sat cross-legged on the other sunbathing pad.

With closed eyes, Elysia delved inward and grasped several threads of lightning. As usual, they struggled under her control, but with her newfound determination, she wrangled them in. Like before, she cycled them through her body for several minutes while keeping a stranglehold on them to ensure their compliance. When satisfied, she allowed them to return to her core before grabbing three strands. A headache pounded, but the strands fell under her control after some resistance.

Another several minutes of cycling ensued before she moved on to four, but the moment she siphoned them off her core, they snapped out of her control, sending a spear of lava through her chest.

Elysia’s hands flew to her chest as she gasped for breath, sweat pooling on her helmeted for head.

Still, after the worst of the pain diminished a few seconds later, Elysia gritted her teeth and refocused inward. Instead of immediately grabbing for strands again, Elysia eyed her core in thought. There had to be an easier way to go about this. How could she be an elemental if she couldn’t freely control her element? As her mind replayed her previous attempts, an idea sparked. Maybe she was trying to control too many at once.

With that thought, Elysia siphoned off a thicker strand, about the size of three of the previous strands together. The throbbing in her chest ticked up slightly, but the strand itself appeared much less unruly. A smile flashed, but she smothered it as she focused all her mind on controlling the strand. Though it appeared much more stable, it felt heavy. While the three strands were unruly, they shot through her veins at double the speed.

Curious if she could push faster, Elysia cycled it through her body, feeling increasing strain on her veins and mind with each rotation, but at the same time, it moved a fraction faster.

Soon, the throbbing both in mind and body became too much, forcing her to return the thread to her core.

After taking a minute to recover with deep relaxing breaths, she stood on unsteady feet and wobbled toward the center of the front deck.

Like her previous training session, she uncoiled her whip on her hip and flicked it, but in her compromised state, she stumbled forward as the whip fell limp. A growl rumbled in her throat as she tried again, only to catch herself in the back, sending her sprawling to the floor with a groan.

Any desire to train further vanished as she crawled back to the sunbathing pad before falling limply out like a light.