ToTT: Rewind (Ch. 8.5)

Chapter 8
July 14th 09:04am...X814, 18 years from now

''Fiore. Or what's left of it. After the Magical Barrier Disease, a product of one of the Kingdom's own Wizards, Kurogane Kenshin of Unchained Soul. After an unfortunate incident involving a heavy use of his unique ability, his attack ended up hitting another of Unchained Soul's members, Sif Akiyama, head on, instead of the enemy, fatally infecting her, although through unknown methods, the infection was somehow suppressed for the next ten years until just a few months after the birth of the woman's second child in X805 with Eugene Woodland, it took hold and killed her within a week, devastating many across Fiore. Even more tragedy came forth when the disease also claimed the lives of both the wife and the second child of the Emperor and most powerful Wizard in Earth Land, Ezra Akiyama, his daughter Mara, when she was just thirteen years of age, completely flipping the personality of her older brother, and sending her father down a dark path that was filled with chaos.''

--

Brooke and Brianna raced through the woods, both displaying feats of high nimbleness as they flipped, jumped and ducked under branches, boulders and the sort. But they weren't racing. They were running. A huge, misty Ape-like creature was chasing them, tearing up and crashing through any tree in its way as it followed the two. They would fight back, if they had the energy to even summon their weapons out. They are battered and bloody, panting heavily as they fled for their lives, seemingly towards a certain spot.

They broke free of the forest they were in, sprinting across an open plain towards a small camp as fast as they could possibly go, but the beast was still closing in. "Dad!", Brooke called out as they got closer and closer, just 200 metres from home base. Her yell attracted the attention of both Eugene Woodland, Brooke's father, and Alexander Akiyama, her cousin, and both men immediately broke into a charge.

They almost blurred past the two girls, as they stumbled their way to safety. Eugene took the first attack. "Forest Dragon's Vine Whip!", Eugene casted. His arms morphed into vines, a gift unique to Body-Type Dragon Slayers, and lashed at the beast as Alex took the distraction as his chance to get behind it. Eugene's vine-arms coiled around each of the beast's arms, and threw it into the air. Alex used his Territory Magic to teleport himself up to the beast, and engulfed his hands in spatial matter as he delivered an uppercut. The uppercut blasted a beam of the spatial matter through the beast's skull, as it was launched into the horizon.

As Alex landed beside Eugene, they both gave each other the same look. "We have to relocate.", Eugene said, "No doubt by now that the Emperor has detected our Magic and is on his way.", he continued.

"Again?~", whined a small white-haired boy. Josh Chance. He sighed as he, Brooke, Brianna, Kai and Akabane (the latter two being the children of more Unchained Soul members) began packing up the camp in a hurry.