The Fight Between The Machinators

After several hours of studying and learning some boring lessons at school, the bell had finally rung. The students swiftly ran out of the room before the teacher could even move out of his chair. It only took a minute before the class was almost empty. Almost.

Everyone was out, except for one boy who was still glued firmly onto his chair, in the corner of the room. But the ‘glued’ word stood up for its real definition. He was really glued onto his chair. His fellow classmates were the ones, who did this to him, but he didn’t have the courage to tell the teacher about it, and fighting them wasn’t an option. Nineteen against one wasn’t fairly fair after all.

You mean nineteen against two.

Iori didn’t reply. He knew that he should stop speaking with his stillborn sister in the real life. He was tired of being labelled as a ‘freak’ for 6 years. Being glued on his chair? They had gone too far; even he couldn’t handle the fury that he was feeling inside his soft heart.

You said it, Bo! I can’t stand them either! You really need to do something about it, like maybe you should prank them back, or-

“Stop reading my mind!” Iori remarked rather harshly, which was a very rare thing to occur. Even a quiet person like him could still be furious. “I... I just want to get off this sticky chair right now...”

He heard a grunting noise in his mind. Force yourself to stand up!

Iori inhaled deeply before trying to push his weight off the sticky surface. “I-I can’t! It still won’t budge!”

Saku sighed. Let me take over for a little while!

Suddenly, Iori’s body felt completely numb. He soon realized that his sister had taken control of his body. Even though he felt that his body was paralyzed, it was actually moving under Saku’s control. When they switched places again, Iori was startled to find his body was already standing in front of his glued chair, the fabric of his shorts were ripped off slightly.

“S-Saku, you just... y-you weren’t supposed to do that - I mean, you weren’t supposed to be able to take control of my body like that!” He exclaimed. “S-since when did you manage to do that?”

He heard no reply.

Sighing, he grabbed his black backpack, swaying it on his back, and sped toward the door.

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He trotted down the sidewalk and halted as he finally reached his desolated house. Walking up to the door, he turned the bronze handle and entered his home.

“I’m home.” Iori called out, hoping to earn at least a single welcoming answer from his parents.

They aren’t even home right now. his sister said.

He heard her clearly, but did not elaborate. Silently, he walked upstairs, and went inside his small tranquil room, not forgetting to close the door behind him. Putting his small backpack on the floor, he subsided on the seat in front of the computer, and quickly put on his M2D. He soon arrived at Mac Anu as soon as he logged into The World. His eyes wandered accurately toward his surroundings, searching for someone that he actually knew. His gloomy face brightened when he spotted one of his good friends was sitting next to the fountain, tapping his fingers on the table in front of him in a bored gesture.

“Haseo nii-san!” Bo called out, quickly approaching his white-haired friend. “Are you here all by yourself?”

Haseo didn’t reply. He gave Bo a weird stare while raising one of his eyebrows. “Did you just call me ‘Nii-san’?” he asked, scratching the back of his head lightly. “Geez, what happened to you, Saku? You hit your head or something?”

Bo frowned slightly; it was his turn to be confused. “Saku? What do you mean by that, Haseo nii-san?” he asked. “I’m Bo, not Saku.”

Haseo blinked a few times, before taking a vanity mirror on his mahogany table and lifting it in front of Bo’s face. “Take a look at yourself.”

Bo did as he was told, and gasped when he saw his reflection. No, it wasn’t his reflection, it was Saku’s!

“I-I’m... Saku...?” he traced his finger across his hair and outfits. Haseo was right; he had in fact turned into Saku. “But-But it really is me! Wh-what happened to my character, Saku?”

I have no idea, you’re the one who’s playing after all!

Bo’s face paled. He turned around abruptly and quickly ran away, leaving the confused Haseo behind. He went through a gate and was teleported to the Dead World of Indieglut Lugh. As soon as he arrived there, he walked toward the lake and took a look at his reflection once again.

“What... what have you done to my character...” he whispered, seeing that he was still inside his sister’s body. S-Saku! What have you done?!”

“I haven’t done anything wrong, Bo! So stop yelling at me already!” Saku’s voice came out from Bo’s mouth. “It must’ve happened by itself, we’re using the same character after all! Maybe there’s a problem with the syst-“

“Quit it! Quit using my body!” Bo yelled out, holding his head in pain.

“Your body? This is my body, not yours!”

“S-SHUT UP!”Bo suddenly yelled at his sister, making her turn silent in surprise. Bo knelt down and pointed at his reflection, Saku’s reflection. “I-I can’t believe you’ve taken over my character! My body! Even my real body in the real life!” he shouted.

Saku stayed silent.

“You... you have turned me into you!” he went on. “You weren’t supposed to do that! You’re not allowed to do that, and you’re not supposed to be able to do that! Y-You... you supposed to stay inside my mind! Just, inside my mind!”

Silence.

None of them said a thing to break the awkward moment between them. Suddenly, Bo felt a silent tear had escaped from his right eye. He leaned closer to the edge of the lake and took a peek at his reflection. He was surprised to see that none of the symbol on his hat was raised. But what made him more shocked was to see that his right eye was wet from the tears that were flowing down his right cheek, while his other eye remained completely dry. He moved his hand to the right side of his face, rubbing the tears away from his right eye.

It was when he realized that Saku was crying.

“Saku...?” he called out, still staring at his and Saku’s reflection. “A-Are you all right...?”

She didn’t answer.

“S-Saku, I... I didn’t mean to-“before he could finish his own sentence, he suddenly felt the ground below him began to shake, hard. He lost his balance and fell on the ground with a ‘thud’.

W-What’s going on? There couldn’t be any earthquake here, could it? he thought. He averted his gaze toward the lake, which was currently surrounded by thick smog and haze. He squinted his eyes a bit, trying to clear up his vision. He stood up, taking a few wobbly steps forward. He leaned his head forward to the lake to see if there was something wrong with it.

Suddenly, and AIDA appeared and bursted out of the lake in a very fast speed. It went straight toward Bo’s direction. He tried to stand up and run, but his legs were petrified. His lips were trembling as a small whimpering noise came out from his mouth. When the AIDA was about to hit his body, a familiar voice was heard inside his mind.

Sorry Bo, but it’s my turn to play now!

After hearing those words, he slowly fell into darkness, and blacked out.

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“Bo... Bo... wake up, Bo...” the blond harvest cleric called out, trying to get her unconscious friend to get out of his slumber, The boy groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes, only to find a worried-looking Atoli staring down at him.

“Uuh... Atoli nee-chan...?” he asked as he reluctantly sat up, squinting his eyes to get a better look at his friend. “W-where am I?”

“You’re at the Canard Shop right now.” Atoli answered. “Haseo had brought you back here. He told me that you had passed out in front of the gate that leads you to Dead World of Indieglut Lugh.”

Bo rubbed his head and stared at Atoli confusedly. He tried to remember what had happened to him and what was it that made him pass out in the first place.

I don’t exactly remember what happened... what about you, Saku? he asked.

No reply.

Saku...? he called out again inside his mind. Why won’t you asnwer me?

Still no reply.

Suddenly, the hideous scene from the woods flashed back inside his mind. He remembered about his fight with Saku, their merging character, and also, the AIDA.

“SAKU!” Bo shouted, holding his head tightly. “Saku, where are you? Are you all right? What has the AIDA done to you?!”

Silence.

Standing up quickly, he looked at the wooden table near him and took the vanity mirror on it. He lifted it up in front of his face and took a look at his reflection. The moon symbol on his hat was raised and his previously spiky hair had turned flat. He looked down at his clothing, and he looked back at his backpack. They were all back to their normal appearance. His character was back. He no longer looked like his sister’s character.

He was back to Bo, and Bo only.

Seeing the boy’s frustrated face, Atoli frowned and bent down to face him. “Bo, is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, you’ve been acting quite strange today, and so has Saku.” His white-haired friend added, who Bo realized had been standing to Atoli. “What happened?”

Bo whimpered, still holding his head. “Saku... she... she...” he paused, trying to hold back his tears. “She was attacked... by the AIDA.”

“By what?!”

“A-AIDA...” Bo repeated, answering Haseo’s question. “It... it appeared out of the lake, when I was standing right in front of it. I was about to get hit by it, b-but Saku suddenly switched places with me...”

He sobbed and he moved his hands to his face, covering it. Atoli knelt beside him and pulled him into a comforting hug. “There, there... Don’t cry...”

Bo didn’t comply, instead, he cried even harder than before. “I shouldn’t have... yelled at her! I shouldn’t have scolded her! It was my entire fault!” he said between sobs. “I always messed things up... always... and she was always there... to cover up for me... she was always there for me... even after I badly offended her...”

By the time he said this, Haseo had knelt down beside Atoli, putting his hand on Bo’s giant hat, trying to cheer him up. “Crying won’t make anything better, you know.” He remarked. “What would Saku say if she saw you crying like this?”

Bo suddenly stopped sobbing and tilted his head at Haseo. “But... there’s nothing else I can do but to cry...” he said. “Her body... only belonged here in The World, belonged in our character, but now she’s separated with me. She... she doesn’t exist anymo-”

“DON’T SAY THAT!” Haseo shouted all of the sudden, making both Atoli and Bo squealed in surprise.

“You call yourself a brother? Her brother?!” he went on. “Honestly Bo, if I was Saku, I would be totally ashamed of myself for having a brother like you!”

“Haseo!” Atoli exclaimed, trying to stop Haseo from continuing the quarrel any further.

“Yeah yeah, your sister had always been there for you, SO WHAT?” he added. “Do you know the real reason why she was always by your side? Why she always protected you?”

Bo didn’t reply.

“IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE SUCH A CRYBABY, BO! YOU HEAR ME? A CRY BABY!”

Bo’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. Him? A crybaby? That wasn’t acceptable.

Bo parted his lips slightly. “I am not... a crybaby.” He whispered.

Haseo put one hand behind his hear and leaned closer to Bo. “Huh? What? Did you just say something, crybaby?”

Bo clenched his fists and stood up straight. “I said, I’M NOT A CRYBABY!” he yelled out anxiously. “I’m not crying anymore, see? And I’ll prove to you and Saku that I’m not a worthless crybaby!” he shouted, stomping his foot. He was glaring daggers at Haseo, panting slightly because of his own anger.

Instead of yelling back at him, Haseo suddenly put his hand on Bo’s head, patting him. “That’s more like it.” He said, smiling down at the confused shadow warlock.

“H-huh?”

“See Bo? I only mocked you a little and now you know that you have some courage inside that tiny body of yours.” Haseo said. “I knew you’re not really a crybaby.”

Bo blinked for a few times, still staring at Haseo. “Haseo nii-san...” he whispered, a small smile was plastered on his previously gloomy face.

Atoli clasped her hands and smiled. “Well, I think we should inform this to Pi and Yata first. Perhaps they’ll know what to do. And maybe we can ask Kuhn to help us also! That way we will be prepared when the AIDA appears and tries to attack us!” she said.

“Good idea.” Haseo raised his hand and did a thumb up. “Well then, ready to get your sister back, Bo?”

Bo looked at Atoli, who was also smiling down at him, and he quickly nodded.

“H-hai!”

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“May I ask why on earth do I have to be dragged here by you guys in the first place?” the long-haired steam gunner complained, still trying to struggle his arm free from Haseo’s tight grip. “I have an important appointment with a friend of mine this afternoon, and I promised to meet her by the-“

“You mean, a girlfriend of yours...” Haseo corrected, rolling his eyes. “Or should I say another girlfriend of yours.”

Kuhn snorted and muttered some curses at Haseo under his breath. Atoli just giggled at the sight of them fighting each other. Bo fastened his pace and walked next to Kuhn, trying to catch up with him.

“I’m sorry for troubling you, mister, but we really need your help right now. You see, my twin sister Saku was a-“

“Oh, you mean that snobbish little br- ouch!” Kuhn was cut off by Haseo whacking him over the head. “What was that for?!”

“I know that you were only saying the truth, but now it’s not the right time to throw some insults at her.” Haseo answered, still gripping on Kuhn’s arm tightly. “We’ll explain it to you as soon as we get to Serpent of Lore.”

“And can you tell me the reason why you can’t explain it to me right here and right now?”

Haseo scoffed. “You know that I don’t like explaining the same thing twice. You’ll just have to be patient and wait until we meet Yata and Pi.” He said.

Kuhn rolled his eyes, but did not elaborate. The four of them continued walking in silence at first, before Haseo caught Kuhn trying to flirt with the innocent harvest cleric, and in result earned another hard whack on his head.

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Bo and the others had finally arrived at Serpent of Lore. They met up with Pi and Yatta as soon as they entered the room. Haseo finally released his grip on Kuhn, who was snatching his arm away and rubbed it to check if it was still there.

“So, do mind explaining what happened to that little br- I mean Saku, Haseo?” Kuhn asked.

“Bo’s the one who’s going to tell you all about it.” Haseo said. “You can start now, Bo. You haven’t even told me and Atoli the whole incident yet, so let us hear it.”

The shadow warlock nodded and stepped in front of everyone else so they could get a better view of him. “It all started when we were arguing about our character. You see, when I logged into the World, my character appeared different than the way it should be. I was using Saku’s character, and not my own.” He explained.

Kuhn nodded in an understanding manner, and Yatta motioned Bo to continue on his story.

“So then, I got frustrated and quickly went to the woods. I had an argument with Saku there, and when check on my reflection on the lake, I noticed that our characters were merged into one.” He went on. “I knew that we were using the same character, but what I mean is, our character was mixed up. Both of our symbols were raised, and our body was divided into 2 different appearances. Saku said that there might be a problem with the system, but I didn’t listen to her.”

Bo took a look at everyone else, who was still waiting for him to finish his explanation. He continued. “When I was about to leave the place, suddenly, the ground started shaking hard. Smog and haze were surrounding the area. And when I was approaching the lake, an AIDA suddenly came out and charged toward me.” He shivered a little. “But before it could even hit me, Saku suddenly switched places with me, and I quickly blacked out.”

“You’re telling me that your sister actually took the hit for you instead?” Kuhn asked, tapping his chin. “Unbelievable...”

“That’s why we need your help to get Saku back.” Bo added, looking at Yata and Pi. “So, will you please help us?” he pleaded.

The pink-haired woman stood up and smiled at him. “Don’t worry. We’ll try and get as much information about the location and AIDA as possible.”

Bo’s eyes gleamed with joy. “You will...?”

Pi nodded. “Yes, but you will have to wait. We’ll need a little time to work on it.”

“And how long will it take for you to get the information we need?” Haseo asked.

“You can get back here tomorrow. We’ll tell you what we know when you return.”

Bo walked up to both Pi and Yata, and quickly bowed his head. “Thank you so much for your help.”

Pi smiled. “It’s all part of the job.”

Atoli took Bo’s hand in hers and smiled. “I think it’s time for us to log out now, tomorrow will be a big day, and we need to have enough rest for our upcoming task.” She said.

Haseo and Kuhn nodded. “Yup, I can’t afford to fall asleep at class again. I got a detention today, but I won’t get another one tomorrow!” Haseo said.

“There goes my special date...” Kuhn sighed. “I really dislike my kindness sometimes... I guess I’ll just have to cancel my appointment for tomorrow, and I blame you guys.”

Atoli giggled quietly. “You can always have another date on another day, Kuhn. I’m sure the girls will still be lining up to get you to go out with them.”

“I suppose...” Kuhn said. He looked at Atoli and winked. “Maybe you can be my next date, Atoli-chan.”

And with that, he received another whack on the head, from none other than the jealous terror of death.

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Next Day

Iori felt really lonely without Saku’s presence. His friends chided him as usual, but they decided not to bully him, since they saw the anxious look that was plastered on his face. He was still thinking of his sister. He couldn’t concentrate at school, he couldn’t wait to go home and meet up with his friends at Mac Anu.

The bell finally rang after the final lesson of the day. Iori stood up from his seat abruptly and ran out of the class as fast as he could. Unknown to him, his friends and teacher were staring at his empty chair as soon as he got out of the room, startled. He was completely different than the usual Iori they knew.

The boy fastened his pace as soon as he hit the sidewalk. He kept running and running, pass the houses and trees, ignoring the weird stares that the people were giving him. He looked like he was being chased by a horde of angry German Shepherds!

He soon arrived at his house. He quickly pushed the front door open and slammed it behind him as he ran upstairs and headed to his room. He took a sit on his chair in front of his computer, and quickly put on his M2D. He logged into The World, and went to Canard’s Shop, where the others agreed to meet up with him before they head to the Serpent of Lore. He spotted Haseo, Atoli, and surprisingly, Kuhn, was already there, waiting for him to arrive.

“Hey guys!” Bo called out, waving his hand at his friends. “Am I late?”

“Nah, I just arrived here myself.” Haseo reassured. “That stupid teacher almost gave me another detention today... he was a real pain in the ass.”

“It’s not a big deal, compare to my problem! Look at this!” Kuhn said, pointing at his slight red cheek. “That girl slapped me for cancelling our date! Can you believe that?!”

Atoli chuckled. “Don’t forget that we have a bigger problem to solve, guys.” She reminded. “Well then, shall we get going?”

“Yes!” Bo answered, and the four of them went straight to the Serpent of Lore together to meet up with Pi and Yata.

Bo and the gang had finally arrived at their destination. Pi was already waiting for them inside, and so was Yata. Haseo was the first one to speak.

“So, have you got the information yet?”

Pi nodded and motioned them to come closer to the monitor. “As you already know, it seems that Saku was separated from Bo’s body because of the AIDA. She might still be in the same spot where the AIDA had attacked her.” She explained, pointing to the monitor. It showed the picture of the Dead World of Indieglut Lugh.

“Separated?” Kuhn asked. “I didn’t know that an AIDA was supposed to do that. I mean, if she was infected, then Bo had to be infected also.”

“I know, we are talking about a different case here.” Yata answered. “Other than infecting her, The AIDA had also separated Saku from both her and Bo’s character.”

Atoli tilted her head confusedly. “So that means, there are 2 Sakubos now?” she asked.

“Uh-huh, this is really complicated.” Kuhn said.

“Complaining won’t help us solve this case.” Haseo spoke up. “C’mon guys, we better go to the Dead World of Indieglut Lugh, before Saku went to another area in The World.”

Bo and the others nodded.

“Good luck.” Pi said.

Haseo only answered with a smirk and Kuhn gave Pi a thumb-up.

“Okay then, let’s go get Saku back!”

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After several minutes of walking, Bo and the gang had arrived back in Mac Anu. Haseo led their way to the Dead World of Indieglut Lugh’s gate. It wasn’t long until they arrived in front of the gate. Good thing no one was around, so they didn’t have to warn the other users about the AIDA’s and the infected Saku’s presence in the woods. Haseo took a step further toward the gate and raised his hand to touch it. But when his palm made contact with the gate, nothing happened.

“Quit fooling around, Haseo. We need to get there before it’s too late!” Kuhn scoffed.

“I’m not fooling around, you fool!” Haseo answered, still waving his hand inside the gate. “There must be something wrong with this gate...”

“Let me try.” Atoli said and stepped over next to Haseo. She touched the gate with her hand, but she still wasn’t teleported to the other area. Frowning, she took out her staff and touched the gate with it. She pulled it back when she knew that her effort was a vain.

“What the heck is wrong with this gate?” Haseo groaned, putting his hands on his hips. “The AIDA couldn’t possibly make this gate stop working, could it?”

“W-what should we do now?” Bo asked, walking up to Haseo and touched the gate lightly with the tips of his fingers. “Should we go back and tell Yata and Pi about th-“

Before he could finish suggesting, the gate suddenly shone brightly, blinding his and his friends’ visions. Before he knew it, he was sucked into the gate and teleported from the area.

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The shadow warlock fell to the ground with a ‘thud’. He whined and rubbed his eyes a little, trying to get his vision back to normal, and when it did, he realized that he was back at the woods, in the Dead World of Indieglut Lugh.

H-how did I manage to go back here? he asked himself He stood up briefly and looked around him for any sign of his friends.

“H-Haseo nii-san!” he called out rather loudly. “Atoli nee-chan! Kuhn nii-sama!”

He turned around, wanting to get out of the place by using the previous gate, but to his surprise, the gate had disappeared and was nowhere insight.

“No...” he whispered, clutching his chest tightly. “I-I can’t go back, but I can’t go further either... I guess I’ll be stuck here alone until the others get here...”

He sat down on the ground and waited for his friends to arrive. But suddenly, he felt the ground started shaking hard, even harder than the last time when he was here.

“W-what’s going on?!” he asked in shock, standing up on the spot. Averting his gaze to the lake abruptly, his eyes widened when he saw who was standing near it.

“S-Saku...” he whispered.

Bo was right, he was standing a few meters away from his own sister. He squinted his eyes a little, trying to get a better look at Saku. He could see that her face and outfits were still the same, but her eyes were not. Her usual golden eyes had turned pitch black, and they looked completely dull and lifeless.

Bo took a few steps closer toward his sister while trying to keep his body from falling onto the ground because of the earthquake.

“SAKU!” he yelled out, wanting to hear an asnwer in return. “Saku, you’re still here! Thank goodness Pi and Yata were...”

When he was about to finish his sentence, he saw Saku took out her grimoires and chanted a spell on him in a low tone.

“... vak don.”

Suddenly, a large ammount of fire fell down from the sky and landed harshly on Bo’s fragile body. He yelped, trying to get out of the way, but he was too late. He got hit by the rocks, causing him to lose some of his Hp.

“Saku! What on earth are you doing?!” he yelled out while trying to stand back up.

Saku didn’t reply, instead, she chanted another spell that was even more powerful than the previous one. “OrVak Don”

A bigger amount of fire was heading toward Bo’s way, but he quickly summoned his own grimoires and chanted one of his own spell and aimed it at his sister.

“OrRue Kruz!”

Both of their fire and water attacks clashed, causing a massive explosion in the Area as a result. The machinators were both flung away from the opposite sides of the blow. Bo’s body fell down on the ground hard, while Saku was sent hitting the white tree that was positioned behind her.

Bo winced lightly as he stood back up and ran toward Saku’s direction. He ignored the smokes that were blocking his view, and kept running until he stopped a few meters in front of the lake. When the smokes began to clear up, he saw his sister had already stood up and had the grimoires ready in front of her body. She was about to chant another spell at him, but in reflex, he quickly shouted his own spell before she could.

“OrLei Zas!”

A huge light appeared from Bo’s right hand, and he shot it at his sister’s direction. She didn’t have any time to dodge it, and got hit by the light in a flash. She lost most of her Hp, as her body fell into the lake in a fast motion.

“Saku!” Bo yelled out, running toward the lake as fast as he could, attempting to catch his sister on time, but he was too late.

Saku was already drowned inside the lake. She did not struggle to get back to the surface, nor to try and reach Bo’s extended arm.

Bo quickly jumped into the lake in reflex. He dove deeper into the base, holding his arm out and tried to reach Saku’s languid hand. When he managed to grab it, he quickly pulled her closer to him and swam back to the surface of the water.

“PHUAAH!” he breathed out as soon as he was out of the water. With an unconscious Saku in his arms, he swam to the edge of the lake and carefully climbed out of it. He laid Saku’s body on the ground before he knelt down beside her.

“Saku...” he called out, shaking his sister’s body lightly. “Saku, wake up...”

He called her names for a few times, but she didn’t even stirr. He wrapped your arms around her and slowly pulled her body closer to yours. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...” he whispered, even though he knew that she could barely hear him. “I shouldn’t have... yelled at you yesterday... I’m sorry... Just please, wake up...”

Bo pleaded, but no avail, since Saku still had her eyes closed. He sobbed, trying to hold back the tears that were streaming down his pale cheeks. He took a hold on Saku’s hand and gripped it fondly.

“If you wake up... I promise I’ll let you play here as much as you want... So please, onee-chan...” he went on. “Please wake up...”

He leaned back and looked at his sister’s body. He realized that it was glowing slightly, and and the brightness increased by every seconds. Bo’s eyes widened as he tried to stand up and took a step back, but his movement was stopped when he felt Saku was holding onto his left arm tightly.

You better keep your promise, Bo...

When he heard the last piece of sentence, the light that was coming out of Saku’s body increased abruptly, causing him to lose his entire vision. Before he knew it, he had already passed out on the cold ground.

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“Bo... Bo... are you okay? Wake up, Bo...” the blond harvest cleric called out, wanting to get her unconscious friend out of his slumber.

Bo stirred slightly before opening one of his eyes. “Uuuh... what happened...” he asked, reluctantly sitting back up.

“Well kid, we found you lying unconscious in front of the lake, so we brought you back here in instance.” Kuhn answered.

“What happened Bo? You looked really messed up back then.” Haseo asked, taking a sit next to Bo.

Bo’s eyes began wandering toward his surroundings, before realizing that he was back at the Canard Shop. Then, an image of Saku flashed back inside his mind, making his eyes widened in surprise and he reflexively stood back up.

“SAKU!” he shouted. “WHERE ARE YOU?!”

He was about to run back toward the gate, before he suddenly heard a familiar voice inside his head.

I’m right here, Bo... No need to shout, you’re hurting my ears...

Bo’s face brightened when he realized that his sister had gone back inside his body. “Saku! I’m so glad you’re okay!” he smiled.

The others were giving him weird stares, since he was twirling around on his spot and started talking to himself again.

“So... I guess the brat is back now...” Kuhn assumed, raising his eyebrow.

Bo immeditately stopped twirling and listened to what his sister told him.

You still remember your promise, right, Bo? she asked, and Bo merely nodded. Suddenly, his smile turned into a sly smirk, as the sun symbol on his head raised up, and his black back-pack had turned into a red color. He turned around gradually and faced his friends.

“Now...” the shadow warlock trailed off. “Which one of you had just called me a brat?”

Kuhn gulped, seeing that Bo had turned back into Saku. Before he could barely escape from the Area, Saku had already taken out her grimoires and aimed a spell a him.

“Oh no you don’t!” she called out, raising her voice. “ZAN ROM!”

A giant tornado suddenly appeared and trashed the area around her, but sadly, she missed her target who was already running away from the shop.

“GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!” Saku yelled out while chasing after Kuhn.

Haseo stood up and ran after her. “Oi! Wait just a minute, Saku!” he called out. “You have to clean this mess up right away! Get back here, you stupid little brat!”

And so, the three of them chased one another until they disappeared from the view, leaving the innocent Atoli kneeling in the middle of the trashed shop, sending a confused stare at her friends’ direction.

The End...?