242 Consumed

As soon as her eyes were set on him, Shin felt a chill slithering down his spine. He felt his knees giving way. In his mind, he begged for his own life. In a split second, Vy was now right in front of him. 

Lycster watched all of this from the sky above. Although Shin was following the bidding of the enemies, Lycster did not feel like he should die. There were certain things he was still unsure about but he felt like he needed to step in. 

"Vy! Don't kill him," Lycster spoke out as he flew down from the sky. 

Vy heard Lycster's voice and turned to see him. The boy turned back into his human form just as he was about to land in the snow. Involuntarily, Vy reached her hand out, her sharpened claws gripped firmly around her brother's neck. 

As soon as Vy realised what her hand had involuntarily done, the Dark Kyu's shadow had her enclosed in a sphere of darkness in her mind. 

"What do you think you're doing!" Vy shouted at the shadow that had consumed her. 

The Dark Kyu appeared before Vy in her mindscape. All she could see was its glowing red eyes. 

"He makes you weak. He makes us weak." the Dark Kyu's voice echoed. 

"What, no!" Vy fought back. 

But in her weakened state, she could not do much. Vy knew she should have listened to Aether. Now she needed him by her side more than ever. She reached out to him once more. The connection Vy had with Aether was something that could never be broken.

On the outside, Lycster was being choked by Vy's hand. She was tightening the grip of her hand. 

"You make us weak," Vy spoke in a low dark voice. 

This was not her sister, her eyes were glowing red. 

"Vy… sis… come to your … senses!" Lycster struggled to speak. He reached out to her, but he could not get to her. 

As it got more and more difficult for him to breath, Lycster could feel his vision failing him, he was losing consciousness. But from the corner of his eye, he noticed something in the sky. Something was flying towards them. 

"Aether?" he mouthed the flying serpent's name. 

The boy was right, Aether returned! The Familiar knew something was up with the village. But seeing that they had a place to rest for the night, Aether took off to find a place of his own. He too needed to recuperate. 

During the time in which he was recovering, he was vulnerable. So Aether went off to find a secluded spot so that he could rest in silence. He was still deep in his recovery stage when she first called out to him. 

But when she called out for him from the depths of her mind, he could not ignore it. Aether woke up and flew straight to their aid. Seeing the carnage from above, he realised that his instincts were right. 

"Vy snapped out of it! Let go of Lycster!" 

From within her mind, Vy could hear Aether's voice. 

"I can't! I don't have control!" Vy shouted back. 

"Yes you do. You always have control, take it back," Aether said. 

Tears flowed down Vy's eyes. No matter how hard she tried, nothing she allowed her to take control of her body. The negative emotions that had fueled the powers of the Dark Kyu were too strong. 

"I can't!"

Aether could have easily sliced off Vy's arm at that point. Lycster would be able to breathe again. Since Vy's body was now more of a shadow with the power of the Dark Kyu, there would be no lasting impact on her physical body. 

But he did not want to spoon-feed Vyrena. That was not the kind of relationship they have. Aether did not want to pamper her. He wanted her to grow and learn. He knew this meant putting Lycster's life in danger. 

"If you do not regain control right now, Lycster is going to die!" Aether declared to her as he looked into her eyes. 

The eyes are the window into one's soul. 

"If you want to get your brother killed," Aether said coldly, "then at the very least look him in the eye when you do. He deserves that much."

Hearing Aether's words struck a chord in Vy's heart. A glimmer of light shot through the shadow darkness the Kyu had cast around her. Vy looked straight into Lycster's eyes. His eyes were not filled with fear, his eyes were filled with determination. 

The boy's face was turning blue, but his one hand was still stretched out towards his sister. He was mouthing some words. He was repeating a handful of words over and over again. 

"I believe in you, Vy… I … believe in you… sis…"

A tear flowed down Vy's cheek as she looked straight into Lycster's eyes. In her mind, Vy jumped high up into the darkness and reached out her hand. She was taking back the control. If she could not find the light in the darkness, she herself would become the light. 

The light Vy held in her hand, in her mind, revealed the Dark Kyu who had been sitting right in front of her in the darkness. It's bright red eyes reflected the light she held in her hand. Slowly the Dark Kyu closed its eyes and disappeared as the entire space was enveloped in light. 

She regained control of her body. 

Vy released her grasp on her brother's neck and Lycster fell to the ground immediately. The boy gasped for air as his lungs worked twice as hard to inhale more air. Vy's eyes returned to normal as she heaved a sigh of relief. 

Aether released his grip on her and slithered over to Lycster's side to check on the boy. Vy, seeing what she had done, had no words for her actions. She rushed forward and embraced Lycster in her arms, hiding her tears. 

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry," she repeated over and over again.