Floreine sat leisurely on the sofa with a book in her hand. She yawned lazily and flipped through the pages of the book, not reading them.
She randomly pointed a word and glanced at her cousin, "Nexien~ do you believe that people who regret their past actions deserve to have another chance?"
Her cousin looked at her in the eyes, "Why are you asking me that question all of a sudden?"
Floreine smiled, her eyes glistening with interest. She raised her finger, a dark purple mist slowly emerged.
"Nothing, just wanted to know your opinion."
Nephrite Yxarien sighed helplessly, he sat cross-legged opposite her and rolled his eyes.
"People wouldn't regret their action if only they thought about them carefully. They didn't think about the outcome when they were executing their actions, so soon they'll regret it? It's called impulsiveness and stupidity." he said coldly.
He looked at the book in his cousin's hand, "Isn't that your latest published book? What's the title again?"
Floreine shrugged and blinked, her cerise eyes looked beautiful and alluring. She then waved the book in her hand.
"Yup! 'The tyrant's favoured concubine' is full of angst; every scene with the emperor is soooo annoying! That male empress was pitiful; he loved a man who couldn't love him back. In the end, he was locked into the cold palace. Heartbroken, he jumped off a tower in that palace. You must read the book 2; It's all about the male Empress. If only you knew how pitiful he was, you'd wish you had digital hands to strangle the Emperor!" She put down the book and clenched her hands, continuing, "The female lead, too, she knew that her step brother loves the Emperor, yet instead of avoiding the Emperor, she indulged herself. It's really a doomed Yaoi!"
Oh, the chatterbox started again. Yxarien was speechless; his cousin is really enthusiastic when it comes to novels.
"Alright, enough..." Yxarien said in annoyance.
He stood up and walked straight to his room. He was about to enter his room when he noticed his cousin's aura had changed. Her sunny appearance earlier disappeared and she'd turned solemn.
" What's wrong?" He asked, "earlier, you were chatting nonstop"
"I mentioned this to you last time, right? Someone made a deal with me, and I'd like to ask for your help."
She also stood up, her eyes showed reluctance. Seeing her like this, Yxarien raised an eyebrow. This arrogant devil have never been like this, there must be something wrong.
Although confused, he still went inside his room. After changing into a formal attire, he exited his room. He saw Floreine still frozen from where she stood, her head lowered in guilt.
After sensing his presence, she raised her head. There was something unreadable in her eyes.
"If you have nothing to say, I'm heading out."
"Be alert, something might happen to you outside..." she whispered, barely audible
"Mm, I understand"
Yxarien nodded and headed out. Her actions made him suspicious; that deal might be related to him, otherwise, why the hell would she be quiet all of a sudden?
While thinking, his phone rang. He took out his phone and saw the caller's name. A beautiful smile formed in his lips.
"Hello, Nephrite Yxarien speaking...how can I help you?" he said teasingly
The person on the other side of the phone call giggled, her voice sunny and cheerful.
"Ah! Kuya Yxarien, wag ka ngang magbiro! Niloloko mo na naman ako eh"
A young girl's voice sounded, her voice was cheerful and lovely. There was a loud voices in her background, some were even shouting.
"How could I tease the young lady! Hmm, what's that noise?" he asked curiously
The girl on the other side was silent for a moment before answering, "Wala po 'yun, sandali lang po kuya..."
"Hoy, ang iingay niyo! mga wala talaga kayong disiplina sa sarili niyo, grade 10 na kayo lung umasta kayo parang grade 1!"
Her sweet tone turned poisonous and fierce. Her scoldings became louder, each sentence contain curse words.
"Mga putik na 'to, malamang magsasaway ako eh Peace Officer ako!" she fiercely said to her classmates, "Pres, pagsabihan mo nga mga 'to! susuntukin ko na talaga sila"
Yxarien heard the young girl excused herself, and then the surrounding became silent.
"Pasensiya na po, magulo po talaga sa classroom namin kapag walang teacher at vacant time. By the way kuya, when will you visit Philippines again?"
Yxarien sighed helplessly and walked in the bustling and crowded highway. The tall buildings stood quietly and cast a shadow, giving those passer-by a shadow to walk into. He walked ahead, every step was light as feathers.
"It is uncertain when, but I promise you that I will come and visit you no matter what."
The young girl opposite seemed delighted, her eyes brightened. She then silently sat on a bench. Her uniform made a rustling sound as she sat.
"Naistorbo ko po ba kayo?" she asked hesitantly
"No, You didn't. Actually I'm free as of now, I have nothing to do aside from patrolling some area."
He said and looked through the crowd, his phoenix eyes examining every suspicious actions of passerby.
"Sana po makabisita kayo uli dito, lahat po kasi ng mga kaibigan niyo ay nasa ibang bansa rin pati po ang mga pinsan niyo" she sighed, "kung mapera lang po kami ay baka ako nalang ang bumisita sa inyo kaso..."
There was a sadness in her voice. Yxarien was about to comfort her when he noticed a suspicious man, the man was sluggish and was walking straight ahead, bumping to every person he passed by. Suddenly he raised his head, his eyes hallow and blank.
He crouched over, holding his abdomen. Big spikes made from bones emerged from the man's back like a hedgehog. He made a harsh, nerve-wracking laugh. It was rough, like a fingernails scraping a sand paper.
A shrilling shouts erupted, humans panic as the man completely transformed into an inhumane figure.
Yxarien hurriedly ended the call, his hand grasping his other hand. He pinch his wrist, then a light golden light brain appeared out of a thin air. It is something that can only be seen in interstellar and science fiction movies.
The ground shook and countless monsters surfaced one by one, their inhumane body of different sizes were terrifying.
"Shit, there are monsters spawned here!" he shouted as he pressed a button on the light brain.
As soon as the button was pressed, shadows and dark particles floated and sharpened. They shot straight like a canon ball, hitting monsters on critical parts.
A black haired lady with a red eyes ran towards Yxarien, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Brother Nexien~! Don't worry Aunts will come soon, they told me to prioritize the humans first"
With a snap of her hand, dozens of drones flew crazily. Each have lasers that quickly shot through the monsters.
"Great, I'll handle the monsters then..." Yxarien said, his eyes bloody red eyes slowly turned dark purple.
He yanked the necklace off his neck, and it suddenly turned into a sword. He launched an attack, slicing through the body of a monster approaching him.
He raised his sword and ran towards the monsters, his eyes calm and composed. He swiftly cut their fleshes, each cut clean and even.
As he was focused in fighting, he didn't noticed a boy approaching him. He was about to warn the child to run when a severe pain on his abdomen welcomed him.
The boy made a strange sound, "ke ke ke" His bloodied mouth formed a stiff smile.
"Nephrite Yxarien!"
His vision blurred and fell with a thud. He could hear his cousins and aunts' argument and their worried calls.
"I told you to stop that deal, Floreine!" A white haired lady shouted, her eyes glaring at Floreine.
"I don't have any choice! I thought that the deal might not take effect since—" she whispered, her eyes showing concerns and guilt.
Akhina walked in, her bloody red eyes swept into the unconscious Yxarien. She heaved a sigh then turned to her cousins.
"Stop fighting, no matter what we do, fate will eventually lead them again. For now, take him to your temple, Yzrra"
Yxarien closed his eyes, his breath became weak as well as his heartbeat.