Cera watched the monster attentively, slowly glancing over at Shiro's presumed corpse, starting to breathe heavily before paper shrouded the monster, causing him to quickly grab Roya, sending them flying to Shiro's direction. He quickly let go of her, looking at Shiro's unconscious body, feeling his chest. There was barely a heartbeat. The monster didn't care. Roya quickly looked at it, taking her glasses off as she glanced at it.
"This isn't a Nullum. Just a wild beast that happens to live here. Shiro will be fine." Roya spoke as she took her cloak off, her body overflowing with a rapid energy. She quickly warmed up her legs, jumping up and down before she left a dent in the ground, appearing immediately next to the monster within seconds, kicking it in the chest, strengthening the attack by applying energy to her feet, sending the monster soaring across the ground.
Cera looked at Shiro's body, looking at the transparent talismans that he had previously placed on his body. "Shiro...I'm...sorry." He spoke as he looked at the monster recovering, kicking Roya back, rendering her unable to fight. Cera's eyes widened in shock watching Roya, anger boiling in his body as he finally stood up.
"I haven't been able to use this technique ever since that day...It brings back bad memories..." He spoke before his robes started fluttering.
"Shiro...Roya...You won't die here...I WON'T LET YOU!" Cera shouted, looking at the monster, a rageful smile bleeding onto his face as he blitzed past Shiro's body, appearing directly in front of the monster, slamming it in the chest as paper started cutting the monster down, causing it to bleed black, showering Cera in it's blood. He quickly created a paper dagger, stabbing it directly through the monster's chest, slicing down savagely before he simply pushed it, causing it to fall as he turned around, walking over to Roya, as he helped her up.
"You really went all out, didn't you...Thanks.." Roya spoke as she stood up, the both of them running over to Shiro. Cera watched him, using the energy currently flowing through his hands to hopefully heal him like he did the last time. However, he didn't seem to be waking up. Cera sighed as he quickly grabbed Roya by the stomach, carrying her as he lifted Shiro, soaring through the sky.
"We're not strong enough. I can't allow us to get hurt any more than we already are." Cera spoke as his anger caused him to fly even faster than he already was prior, causing him to shatter through the veil between Averune and Deeper Averune. With this, he gritted his teeth before they directly landed outside of their home. Cera quickly put Roya down, carrying Shiro over to his bed, placing him on it as he unravelled bandages, placing them all around his corpse. Cera clenched his fist, Roya walking into the room, touching his shoulder. She felt a surge of negative emotions coming from him, his usually blue eyes turning a dark navy as he turned around.
"THIS IS ALL ERYX'S FAULT! I'LL MAKE SURE HE PAYS, ROYA!! DO YOU SEE WHAT HE'S DONE TO SHIRO?! WHAT HE'S DONE TO US?! HE KNEW THAT WE...HE KNEW THAT WE WEREN'T STRONG ENOUGH!! HE WANTED US TO DIE, TO SUFFER, JUST BECAUSE HE LIKES IT!!" He shouted, his voice breaking as he looked at Roya, a full sense of anger..but not a single tear could drop from his eyes.
"Cera...I understand." She spoke as she took her shades off, holding both of her hands on his shoulders.
"I understand the way you're thinking right now. You're like an overprotective parent who thinks the world should suffer because your son got hurt. But right now, that isn't what Shiro needs. That isn't what we need. We need to get stronger. Ever since then, our powers have gotten weaker. Your strength has declined..and my abilities have been heavily nullified. I don't think this is Eryx's fault. This isn't anybody's fault. At least, not right now. We just need to stay down, knowing we'll get back up again when the time is right. Do you hear me?" She spoke, her voice comforting him. He looked at her, closing his eyes as he opened them again. He held her shoulders tight, looking into her eyes.
"We'll start again. From where we hit our lowest. Then we'll become better than our old selves...and surpass them with our strength and talents." Cera looked, his eyes glistening the light blue as he smiled. Roya looked at him as she held his hand, walking him outside as they looked up at the sky.
"We're going to surpass the sky, Cera. We'll beat the clouds into submission, then we'll rule the sky as leaders!" Roya smiled as she looked at Cera, smirking. Cera looked back, smiling as they both took a deep breath.
***
On the highest peak of Averune's mountains stood a shrine, where a girl was currently being executed. She was unconsciously chosen to be executed by the people of Averune for the fatal event that happened countless years ago. The men covered in robes looked as they revealed the blades that would be used to kill her. There was another man who seemed to be leading the entire operation. Using a large megaphone, he shouted,
"ALL CITIZENS OF AVERUNE!!! THE EXECUTION OF THE PHOENIX WILL BE TAKING PLACE NOW!! AS HER BODY IS UNCONSCIOUS, WE CAN ASSUME THAT HER POWERS AREN'T INTACT!! OFF YOU GO!!" The man shouted as the blades had suddenly fallen. An evil grin formed on his face before a large swarm of dust had appeared, launching some men back. The man tried running to the situation, but there was no use. The dust had cleared within seconds, a boy emerging. He was short, his features childlike - puffy white hair, a school uniform with a black jumper, pale skin and...a weird hat that seemed to resemble a jesters.
"Hey!! Sorry, I'm calling off this execution!!" The boy spoke, his voice just as childish as his appearance. The man quickly ran towards him, trying to attack before he suddenly tripped on the floor, feeling an oozing liquid from his leg...until he looked back. Bam! His leg was gone! The boy laughed, walking up to him slowly as he grabbed his hair, lifting him up as his hand reached his chest, causing his entire body to disappear into the ashes.
"That was epic, right?? All you guys dressed in robes like you're attending a ceremony...But you just wanna see a girl die!! Not cool, man..you need to fix up!!" He shouted before he shifted his fingers at a speed beyond the human eye, all of the robed men suddenly dropping dead. The boy looked back at the girl, walking over to her, destroying the chains that were limiting her consciousness. He looked at the girl, knowing she wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.
"It's not like the others can't deal with things on their own...I'll stay here with you until you wake up." The boy smiled, looking at the transition from black to a scarlet red in her hair, patting her head as he yawned, looking up at the shrine.