My Brother Is The Hero Of Earth

The others seemed to understand something had changed since my whole demeanor shifted as I stared at the door. A moment later, the kitchen door opened, and Gustavo walked in with a complicated smile on his face. His black hair and dark eyes had changed, his hair was now blonde, almost white, and his eyes were the same golden color with diamond pupils as my own when my bloodline was stirred. There was also a new addition of a pair of silver horns, much like my red ones, but his were a bit longer, another sign that he still didn"t have too much control over his own bloodline. His skin had also changed from its healthy bronze color to a snow white without any blemishes and three black runes were on his arms and legs, much like my own. In fact, his three were nearly identical to three of my own, including the Chaos Lightning rune, but the edges of his were slightly softer and more uniformed.

"Becca," Gustavo said with a complicated expression.

"Come here, idiot," I said as I stepped forward.

He chuckled as he finally relaxed and gave me a hug. I could feel my bloodline stirring, but it just filled me with a sense of repulsion, instead of my normal problems which I guessed was actually a boon since he was my brother. When he pulled back, his face looked strained and he quickly lowered his head, submissively.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah... You seem to suppress my bloodline," he replied.

"Of course, I"m stronger. Did your mental plane change after the awakening?"

"Yes, there is a dragon door where I met Vadir, the first King of the Dragon Clan. He doesn"t like me too much," he said sheepishly.

"Koken isn"t any better."

"Since we are all up anyways, who wants breakfast?" Alice asked.

I shoved Gustavo to my empty seat while I walked around the table and took the last empty seat, next to Katye. Everyone was fine with getting an early start for the day, so Alice got the golem cooking again with a mental command. Under the table, my hand found one of Katye"s while I asked about what everyone had been doing while I was asleep.

With me out of commission and Gustavo still trying to get the hang of his new power, no one had gone into the "Rift", but there still had been some changes. Everyone, except for Melissa, had been taking combat practice seriously to the point that Alice and Yue had been working on a special addition to the training field. Once complete, it would allow us to enter a illusionary world where we could fight against any creature that we have fought before without any fear of truly dying. Although there would be some temporary side-effects, they were a lot easily to handle than a real injury. It was dawn when everyone was finished eating and the conversation slowly began to end when a chime rang through the whole house.

"d.a.m.n, that man is as impatient as always," Alice grumbled as she stood up. "Becca, there is someone who wants to meet you," she added before she walked out the door.

"Do you guys know what"s going on?" I asked as I stood up.

"When we first brought you back, we didn"t know what was going on with you, so Alice called on an "Old Friend". Be careful with him... He can"t hurt you physically, but he feeds on knowledge..." Yue warned.

"Great..." I said as I rolled my eyes and followed after Alice.

Alice waited for me in the entry room before she opened the outside door, but no one was there. Before I could ask, Alice walked out and I shrugged as I stepped out as well. No one was at the door, but there was someone walking slowly up the dirt road. It was a hunched man that carried most of his weight on his cane and looked absolutely ancient. He was mostly bald, except for a ring of long, white hair that hung loosely over his shoulders and a long, white Fu Manchu beard that was neatly trimmed. His skin was weathered and wrinkled by aged while the ancient style of robes he wore made him seem even older. When he drew close, he looked up and his solid black eyes seemed to swallow me whole. Knowledge, wisdom, and an infinite number of years to master it all; this was the only way to explain the way he made me feel when I met his eyes, but a moment later, my senses were restored, and he was playing the part of a tired old man.

"These old legs of mine don"t as they used to. You really should move your entrance closer," the old man said with a toothy grin that revealed a set of yellow teeth.

"If you had spoken of your arrival before, I could have done something for you," Alice said, a noticeably icy tone in her voice.

"Ah, but I did!" he said as he tapped his cane. "I said when the girl awoke, I would return. I even gave you time to let your little "family" know. But that is no matter, you certainly aren"t going to make this old man talk out in the dirt."

"Of course not, Sogu. Please, follow me into my study," Alice said, holding open the door.

The old man slowly climbed the stairs and followed behind Alice as they entered the house. Despite the flawless performance of the feeble old man, I couldn"t help but feel it was just that, an act. There was no weakness in his eyes and I could even sense that he was a major threat to my life, so I refused to let down my guard around him. Alice lead him down the hall to her study while I trailed behind the pair. I ended up sitting next to Alice on one of the couches while he sat on the one across from us.

"Rebecca, this is an "old friend" of mine I called on to help examine you after you and the rest returned, but for his help, he requested to ask you three questions. He will "compel" you to answer his question, so as to get the full truth, even if you do not know it," Alice said.

"Did he actually help me?" I asked.

"No, I cannot meddle in mortal affairs, only consult," he said with a cheery grin on his face.

Even though I wasn"t looking directly at her, I still noticed Alice"s eye twitch at his words, but she said nothing, so I could only nod to the old man.

"Excellent, brace yourself. For my first question: did you truly die?" he asked.

I didn"t understand his warning, but that was only for the fraction of a second before he asked his question. My eyes were still locked on him, but everything else around me seemed to fracture and crack, revealing a shining, golden light. Dazed, I dimly answered in an unnatural voice, "Yes, my heart was destroyed, and brain activity completely stopped."

"Then how are you alive now?"

Once again, the answer was pulled from me and I quoted, "Death does not stop Chaos."

The man"s eyes seemed to sparkle and then he asked his final question, "Those words are not your own, who"s, then, are they?"

This time, before I could speak, a thunderous dragon"s roar erupted from deep within my body, shaking the room. The man snorted and banged his cane in the next instant, canceling out the rumble on his side of the room. He waved his hand and the golden light vanished, returning the surroundings to normal.

"No need for the final answer, I know that arrogant roar," he said with his lip curled up in disgust. "He gave me the same answer then as well. I"ve infringed on your hospitality long enough, but before I leave, let me give you this, Alice. Waters are beginning to rise, see that you aren"t lost in the flood," he said as he pulled a folded letter from his robe and placed it on the table. He gave me one last look of distaste before he tapped his staff twice and simply vanished into thin air.

"Alice..." I started, but she stopped me with a hand.

The tips of her lit up in blue, green, red, yellow, and white and then she began tracing a number of runes, creating a small formation that was only the size of her palm. The runes shimmered in their own color, representing the five elements, as she finished the formation with two bands of multicolored light around the runes and the whole thing burst into twinkling lights. The sparkles zoomed over to where he was sitting and swirled around as the golden crack I had seen before reappeared. The specks of light slowly seeped into the cracks and healed them.

"That little hermit still tried his little tricks even after I dispelled them last time," Alice grumbled when the lights faded away.

"Just who was that?" I asked.

"Sogu, the Historian, as he prefers now, but the names he has gone by in the past are more memorable: Prometheus, Thoth, f.u.xi, and many more," she replied, picking up the folded paper on the table.

"Prometheus? Like the Greek G.o.d who brought fire to man?"

"He was also credited for creating man from clay, but it truth, he just created the first golems," Alice said as she opened the letter. She scanned through the contents quickly and pinched her brow between her eyes with an exasperated look on her face.

"Everything okay?" I asked when she put down the paper.

"As much as they can be. It"s a letter from another "Old" friend, but if she is contacting me, others must be inquiring about the state of the "Great Ward"." She leaned over and kissed my cheek then said, "Go hang out with the others, I"ve got some work to do."

"Alright," I replied as I stood up.

I walked out of the room while she moved over to her desk. After I shut the door behind me, I closed my eyes as I stretched out my senses for the first time since I had woken up. As I had guessed, despite being unable to utilize my new form, there was still a major improvement to my ability to sense life, even with the wards and formations built into the house. I swept the house and was even able to reach outside where I found who I was looking for, Yue. If anyone had any idea about what was going on with Alice and her "friends", it would be her, the closest thing Alice had to a daughter.