Chapter 58 - As White As Snow

After everyone took turns reading the note left by Oliver's original owner, they all looked down and had a look of pity on their faces.

"You two need to get it together, I for one, would not like Oliver's new home to be full of shouting and fighting."

Suna crossed her arms together.

"Y-Yes, Suna." Yin nodded and got pretty calm afterwards.

"Tch." Zachary clicked his tongue. "I know that much."

The awkward silence was cut short by Oliver walking up towards Yin, who was seated on the wooden outdoor-chair. 

He took out his bamboo shoot and prepared to 'heal' Yin.

"N-No, no, no, I-I am alright now, Oliver. Thank you for the kind gesture though, little guy."

Yin gave a reassuring smile and caressed his fluffy forehead.

Oliver heard this and opened his backpack.

The baby panda then placed his switchable bamboo shoot back into place.

"By the way, Yin. What happened last night?"

Suna asked him.

Zachary was also eager to hear what his answer was.

"I mean it is impossible to assume that Oliver did that to you, right? Seeing as you are really not that hostile with him, it also seems like this is the first time you met him, as well."

Suna said.

"Yeah, no, Oliver was not the one who attacked me, in fact, there was nobody else attacking me that night."

Yin replied while looking down.

He arranged his hair and slicked it back.

"What do you mean?" Zach was confused. "Do you mind explaining what the heck happened to you last night, then?"

"I think it was myself."

Yin said slowly.

Zach and Suna did not say anything.

Although they were very confused, they still wanted to hear what Yin's explanation was.

"In my dreams, I had remembered faint instances of what actually happened last night. I over trained. But something was different, my senses were heightened, my Anima cells were going rampant, and my physical strength was different."

Yin said as he continued on caressing Oliver's belly now, scratching it ever so playfully to the baby panda's delight.

"How did that happen?" Suna pressed on with the questions. "I really do not understand nor have had that experience myself, because, as you know, I have no Anima cells myself."

She turned to Zachary.

"How about you Zach, ever had something like that happen to you?"

She was adamant in knowing.

"No, to be honest, that has never happened to me. From the way he said it, it seemed like he got stronger overnight for that very specific instance only, thus taking a toll on his body would be the most likely thing that might have happened next."

He said.

Yin just continued on listening to them.

Their chatter and theories were silenced by Yin's words.

"I-I also saw my reflection in the nearby lake before what I said earlier had happened to me."

Yin contemplated.

"Anything out of sort? What did you see?"

Suna wanted answers and she wanted it now.

Zachary was in the same position as well, he did not want for there to be an enemy or monster lurking around while they were cooped up in the hideout, there is no knowing when it might attack, if ever there was one.

"My reflection, the face at the lake, it was like an Angel's…"

Zachary got up and close to Yin's face.

"Quit joking around!"

He exclaimed.

"I really wish I was joking. It would be much easier if I was. As I looked closer at my reflection on the lake, my eyes were white, as white as snow. They were shining too, rivaling that of the moon's luminescent glow."

Yin said it with such a melancholic tone.

"And what of the Angel that you saw?"

Suna asked.

"It was not me, it was a mask. An equally white mask attached to my face." Yin was shaking. "What's happening to me?"

Zach extended his hand to Yin.

"Get up."

Yin looked at him, now teary-eyed.

"It is normal to fear the unknown, to fear what we do not understand, that is something that makes us human. After the fear subsides and fizzles away, what remains is us, only us. Our strength and fragility, our happiness and sorrows, those are factors that allow us to feel alive. Tell me, Yin, would you fear your own powers if you solved the mystery behind it and how to use it?"

Yin shook his head.

"Precisely, now, get up."

Zach's stern voice prompted Yin to take his hand and stand up on his own two feet.

"Thanks, Zach."

Zach pulled his hand away.

"Idiot, I am not doing this for you, as I said earlier, it is your time to cook breakfast today, you better not mess it up."

He then walked away after saying that.

Suna smiled.

"I don't know if you still remember our time at the orphanage, Yin, but you used to be kind of a loser. Every single kid there would pick on the weaker ones. You stood up for them and you fought back time and time again. Even when you were outnumbered, you kept standing up and threw punches, well, you never really landed that many though. You rarely won any of your fights back then. They would only stop after I showed up and scared them away."

Her smile then turned into laughter.

She chuckled.

"But even back then…"

Suna paused.

"I thought to myself how cool it would be to become someone like you. To keep standing up even when the odds are stacked against you that much, to persevere in the face of the impossible. I'm happy you never grew out of it. You'll make a fine hero, Yin."

She ended her monologue right then and there.

Before Yin could say anything back, Suna was gone, she jogged to the nearby lake in the forest, bringing Oliver along in case he got thirsty.

"Thank you, Suna, Zachary." Yin stretched for a bit. "Right, time to cook breakfast!"

Hours went by and it was now time for training.

This time, it was Suna against Yin.

Yin realized every single factor about him increased by phenomenally once he activated those white eyes and white masquerade of his simultaneously, just like last night.

But there was a catch, he did not know how to do it.

He let out a deep breath.

Focusing all his will in activating it.

That was when the System's monotone voice made itself shown, after being hidden for days.

[ Thanatos, you are not yet capable of using the Nix Eyes reliably. ]

"N-Nix Eyes? What is that?"

[ There was a miscalculation last night, you were not supposed to use it. ]

"Who the hell says what I am supposed to and not supposed to do? You are merely a voice in my head!"

[ I see that the memory transfer has not yet accumulated well enough with you. Your memory is still barren, nothing has been remembered. ]

"I have told you time and time again now, I am not Thanatos! This power that you have given me, I am grateful for it, yet you tell me nothing of its origins, where it came from and how I am better able to wield it! You just tell me to level up and level up for months now! Seriously! I will use the Nix Eyes as I see fit, with or without your approval."

Yin said to the System.

[ The power that 'we' have given you is not ours; we do not possess such strength and capabilities stacked within, just waiting to be given, no, this power belongs to you, Thanatos. In due time, you will remember. You shall remember the wrath of the Old Gods, and the winged creature's beginnings. Here is an advice from us, if you forcibly use the Nix Eyes, be prepared to have it take a toll on your frail body. ]

"Oh yeah? Watch me, then. I'll use the System and become someone who is able to protect others. Just watch me."

All the while Yin was having this conversation in his head, Suna had already taken the first step.

With one quick leap, she closed the distance between her and Yin.

Dust kicked up from the ground.

"Look alive. You are going to have to do better if you want to be a hero, Yin."

She smirked.

Suna threw a right hook at Yin, to which he swiftly blocked with his left arm.

This caught Zach by surprise.

His eyes were that of someone who has seen something out of this world.

None of them have been able to block Suna's constant barrage of attacks reliably. It was taking them a while in combat to be able to adjust to her fighting stance. They have only been blocking it for about five percent of the time, that is how rare it was.

Yet here Yin was, blocking her punch on the first try.

Yin smirked back.

His eyes fixated on Suna's.

Something was wrong, they were white.