Chapter 106: Reunion

As the blood continued to gush out of the wound, the guard fell to the ground while he made his last feeble attempt to desperately gurgle for the saving grace that the air would have meant to him. 

There was no saving grace for him. He had his chance but because of his own arrogant haughtiness, he didn't take it.

"Better luck with your next life…" Drake said looking at the now-corpse of the last guard. Stepping over him, Drake tried pushing on the door, only to find it locked. 

"Figures…" he mumbled in annoyance.

Turning around, he crouched next to the dead body. With a frown on his face, he quickly went through the dead guard's pockets. Eventually, wedged between the two connecting plates, hidden with the heraldic design he found the singular copper key.

Now, with the key in hand, he walked back to the door. He was already feeling positive, as while there probably was some sort of dampener etched into the walls of this place, he could still feel the light buzz of Marf's excitement. 

It felt the presence of another artifact, and it wasn't the one that the mysterious woman that came with his group carried with her. It was another one, carried by someone behind this metal door.

"Relax buddy, I know, I know! I'm excited too… I waited so many years for this moment…" he muttered. His face contorted into a painful smile as he remembered the last moments when he saw his dear sister and two brothers being carried away; his father's emotionless face as he watched this happening… Clenching his fists, he smeared the few teardrops that were about to slither down and escape their eternal prison.

Inserting the key to the rusted keyhole, he had to exert a small bit of strength to make the key turn around. Once it did, and he heard the satisfying deep-toned clicking sound, he grabbed the metal hold and pulled the door. 

It was much thicker than he expected, in fact, it was almost like what the nobles used to keep their wealth safely stored away in their vaults. This was a genuine, bonafide vault door; several inches thick, and probably weighed at least a few hundred pounds. 

In fact, it was so heavy and rusted that Drake had to use both hands and exert almost all of his strength to slowly pull this last metal barrier that separated him from her missing sibling. 

Once he managed to create an opening wide enough for him to squeeze in, he nervously peeked through. A dark, damp room greeted her, that only had a single source of light, a sort of contraption mounted on the ceiling that glimmered with a faint white light.

In the corner of the dimly lit room, he could see the silhouette of a feminine figure, sitting, hiding in the shadows. Agitated, he took a step inside the room and stopped right at the entrance. The pommel of his sword glowing in bright, powerful blue light, illuminated his visage. 

"Scarlet?" He nervously called out to the silhouette, not taking any step, standing still, forcefully radiating a calm and collected aura, even if he was incredibly nervous. He dreamt about this moment at least a million times in the past years, carefully planning what he was gonna say. 

Yet, now at the moment, he didn't know how to begin.

There was no movement or any sort of visible reaction from his first call, so he tried again, this time with a bit more force and certainty in his tone.

"Scarlet? It's me, Draco, your brother. Do you remember me? I have finally found you…"

On his second call, he saw the head, still hiding behind the shadowy corner jerk towards the invader. Shortly after a weak, faltering voice came from it.

"D-dra-co?" It clearly struggled to form the word, yet Drake could feel the emotion behind it, the will to push it out, and let it be carried with the air. 

As if tasting something delicious, something new and exciting, the figure inched closer to the light, still sitting on the dusty ground, repeating the name and adding a rhetorical question, as if to test its own sanity.

"D-draco? B-brother?"

The emotional weight that these two simple words carried were like hammers to Drake, he struggled to keep standing. Unable to hold his tears, he burst out crying as he let out all the pain he accumulated over the years. He slowly, unsteadily started wobbling forward, towards the figure who was also crawling towards him.

"Y-yes, I finally found you… After all these years…"

As the distance between them slowly decreased, the figure slowly got up to its knees and eventually, it was on its feet, closing in on the silver-haired man.

In the last 3 meters, as they got close to the singular source of light, the toned body wrapped hiding behind a dark-brown leather bikini was revealed. Her greasy, unkempt curly hair still carried that fiery strength she was known about and named after. She had large scars running through her entire face from her right eye, all the way to the left corner of his lips. 

She was dirty, she smelled, but that didn't matter. As soon as Drake saw her, he regained his strength and grabbed the toned, bruised, and battered body of her sister and lifted her into the air.

Gradually as she could saw his tear-stained face and familiar silver tinges, her previously lifeless face morphed. After many years of rest, her face muscles contorted and a sad, painful smile revealed itself on her lips. The dry channels that refused to water themselves for many years, regained their ability, and after years of abstaining herself, she finally let out an emotional cry.

"Brooother!" She buried her face into his long-lost brother's chest. 

For several minutes the only sounds that escaped the gaping crack of the room. As the minutes passed, the siblings let out their accumulated sadness and welcome this new powerful positive feeling. Happiness. 

Their hearts beating a thousand a minute, they were truly happy for the first since their forced separation. 

As the minutes passed, Drake forced some rationality on himself and separated himself from his sister's tight hug.

"My dear sister! I'm so sorry it took me so long to find you! I…" He started, but soon realized he can't continue, his feelings were too chaotic, his emotions were out of place. Also, as he spoke a small index finger sealed his lips. 

Still tear and snot-stained, Scarlet looked at his brother, and as the first smile in many years crowned her, she responded in a faint tone.

"It's okay… You were the only thing that kept me going, the thought of one day… one day, I will get back to you. And that one day…" Her smiling face revealed a decisive murderous glimpse. "...and that one day, I can have my revenge on that bastard that tossed me away like garbage!"

Gently grabbing the back of her head, Drake lightly caressed it as he blew a kiss on her forehead.

"My dear sister… I know. We will pay him back for everything he did. But first…" he reached to his back pocket and he pulled out the small glass crystal he received. He presented it to Scarlet, motioning her to grab hold of it. "...we have to get you out of here. Grab this crystal with me!"

"Brother, what is this thing?" Scarlet asked in confusion upon seeing the strange object. "Is this some of the family heirlooms?"

Smiling, he gave another kiss to the girl on her forehead before he replied.

"No, this is something I got from my new... Hmm… let's say friends, I guess. I was told we need to crush it, and then it will take us to a safe place. So grab onto me, and let's see if this thing works at all!"

Obeying her brother's words, Scarlet tightly wrapped her arms around his brother's chest and closed her eyes, waiting for the magic to happen, and take them away from this hell she had to call home for many years, suffering through countless tribulations.

Thinking back, she let out a small smile as she buried her face in her brother's chest yet again. Yes, there were many tribulations, horrible events, moments that will probably haunt her for the rest of her life, but still, in the end, she found him. 

She could not hope for a better ending than this. 

Taking one last look at her sister, he sniffed at her hair, and as her smell filled his nostrils, he let out a contented sigh. 

Looking up, she looked at him with a small pout. 

"Pervert." 

Although the term was harsh, the tone it was carried with was gentle. Drake smiled at her sister, and as he raised his arm to the air, he exerted a bit of strength and crushed the glass crystal. 

Black smoke escaped from its glass cell and quickly engulfed the siblings. In a few moments, as the smoke filled the room, their presence could no longer be felt, they were no longer in the room.