Chapter 9 : Morning
Feeling particularly pleased with himself, Anton couldn't help but to wear a smug smirk on his face as he passed through the portal and stepped back out into his new bedroom. With a joyful spring in his step, he quickly loped out of the room and descended the stairs as he made his way back to the kitchen.
He had just finished negotiating a buying price for an item that had been set to go to auction at the World Auction House in Halliburton.
The Bacsik Manuscript was a set of wooden plates that had been strung together and featured a series of ancient writings that were believed by some to be instructions that could help in preforming powerful rituals. It was an important item in research Anton had been doing off and on for many years now. And he was quite happy that his negotiations had allowed him to avoid having to deal with the hassle of bidding on it.
Unfortunately, his good mood was nearly overshadowed by the unyielding rage he was feeling at being forced to buy back something that he was, technically, already the owner of.
But at times, such is life.
And the guilty person responsible for this annoyance would be dealt with as soon as possible.
In the meantime however, he would need to set that train of thought aside and focus on solving the problem of the other guilty person that was currently disrupting his life.
As Anton stepped back into the kitchen he immediately became aware of a couple of odd sights.
The first was that Mica had completely disappeared from her seat and was now nowhere to be seen. The second was that the dark elves were, for some reason, currently laid out together on the floor and pressed against the cabinets below the sink.
At first glance it seemed that they had apparently "discovered" each other again, as they appeared to be engrossed in what looked to be a very intimate and emotional embrace. Upon closer examination however, it was clear that they were in reality quite distressed. Or at least Kianna was, as she had a pained expression plastered across her tear stricken face as she clutched her... unmoving, sister to her chest...
"...Girls?" questioned Anton softly as his chest tightened in concern.
Anton felt himself go cold as the whole world suddenly seemed to go silent and still. Taking another step into the room, he was unexpectedly greeted with a third odd sight, as what looked to be a nearly-naked, dark-haired, clearly female, crazed eyed lunatic suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision. Whoever this person was, she was apparently quite incensed with him, as she was currently in the process of rushing across the room towards him, whilst brazenly brandishing a steak knife above her head.
Any rational thought that may have been left in Mica's mind completely vanished at the sight of Anton stepping in through the walkway. With her hated target now in front of her, and focused on nothing else but plunging her weapon into his neck, she immediately began to race towards him. As she came within striking distance, she leaped into the air and moved to bring her knife down with all of her might. Unfortunately, before the tip of the blade could meet its mark, it struck something else entirely.
Mica had no time to react as her whole being was unexpectedly bounced back and away from Anton. Though dumbstruck by the sensation of being thrown backwards, she was still able to land on her feet and remain standing upright. Blinking in confusion, she looked up to find that a giant, glowing orange-colored bubble had suddenly appeared between herself and her target.
Although the light bubble now surrounding Anton may have only been a few dozen molecules worth of energy thick, it was still more than strong enough to stop something as simple as a knife wielding maniac.
Enraged by this complication, the kiochi began to dance about and frantically stab at the bubble in a futile attempt to pop it. Her anger only intensified as these efforts quickly led to her making eye contact with Anton.
"...Mica?" questioned Anton as a surprised expression marred his face.
The kiochi merely growled in response before continuing to try and stab her way into the bubble.
Staring down at her for a moment, Anton shifted his eyes back to the dark elves as a grim realization caused his heart to sink even further in dismay.
"...No....Girls....What have you done?" he whispered quietly as his eyes went wide with rage.
Mica let out an excited cry as the bubble suddenly vanished from in front of her. Before she could continue her assault however, a bright flash of light caused her to reflexively look upwards.
Her mouth fell open in shock as she gazed up at a furious looking Anton who was now bathed in a brightly glowing, fiery orange-colored aura.
"What have you done!" roared Anton as he raised his fist high into the air above her and summoned a blazing ball of ethereal fire into existence.
"Crap!" exclaimed Mica as she leaped away backwards and then to the side in order to just barely dodge the incoming fireball. Diving forward again, she frantically rolled out of the way of two more blasts before leaping back up to her feet. Her instincts were once again screaming at her that the fireballs being thrown at her were made of no ordinary fire, but rather than try to full on escape out of the still open door she instead turned and headed straight for the dark elves.
"How dare you!" raged Anton as he ignited both his fists with the ethereal flames and without hesitation fired both blasts right at the fleeing kiochi's back.
Mica's mind fell into a blind panic as she felt the unnatural heat of the incoming fireballs swelling in intensity right behind her. Unable to dodge them, she closed her eyes as she desperately willed herself forward.
Though even she herself didn't quite understand her own motives, every fiber in her body was telling her to make it to the dark elves. She needed to be with them. They needed her to be with them. She knew she had to make it to them. And she also knew, that she wasn't going to.
She wasn't going to make it. She was going to fail. Again.
Holding her eyes shut as tightly as she could, Mica leaped forward and spread her arms out wide in an effort to block the dark elves from the fire that she could feel was rising rapidly right behind her.
In this final split second before the twin blasts would have met their mark and incinerated her into nothingness, a sense of peace suddenly filled her mind. Sailing through the air, the realization that in this final act she could at least spare the dark elves from this blast was somehow comforting to her. As though, with this single action, her life would finally be given a purpose. The broader reality behind this idea didn't matter, as for her, in this moment, that thought in of itself was enough. She would die to save them. And for some strange reason, she could accept this. She was okay with this.
Believing her end had finally come, Mica smiled softly in bliss as from one instance to the next the heat of the fires behind her suddenly vanished.
Unbeknownst to the kiochi however, this reprieve was due to a wall of pink-colored light that had instantly taken form in between them and blocked her from the blasts.
"No!" screamed Kianna as she held her hands up in an effort to gain Anton's attention "Stop!"
"...Ki-Kianna!" exclaimed Anton as he pulled back on his next attack and kept the flames in his hands.
"Stop! Please!" cried the dark elf in utter desperation "Please! Please! Just stop!"
Locked in a state of confusion, Anton stared into Kianna's pleading, tear stricken eyes for what seemed like a frozen eternity. He blinked, and came back to his senses as her aura field fell away.
