NoGift

When the fake G.o.ddess disappeared and she and Clay were done with their part of the plan, they decided that it"s time to go to their meeting point and just leave all the clean-up to popsicle.  Which should be the case.  It would amplify his image as a hero in the people"s hearts.  Since he was the one who would mostly reap all the rewards after this incident, it"s only right for him to work hard for it.

But now that their part was done, all of Aurum"s thoughts were now focused on her brother and mother.  Even if Lynx and that snake were with Argent, she couldn"t help but feel that something would go wrong and that her brother and mother would fall into some kind of danger.  As time pa.s.sed by, her anxiety just continued to heighten and she couldn"t calm down.

Her brother would be facing that devious Pope after all.  He was projecting a gentle and kind image in front of people.  He was doing it so perfectly that he could easily move the hearts of the countless followers of the Temple of Gaia.  Who would have thought that behind his warm smile was a black heart?  Using those minions of his to kidnap her mother just to force them to look for those artifacts was an act only a nefarious person would do.

How hateful.

She was about to step forwards when both her shoulders were suddenly held.  Aurum looked up and saw Clay in front of her.  "What?"

"Calm down.  Your brother will be alright.  He will definitely save your mother and come back safely.  This is your brother we"re talking about.  The same guy who could literally turn the impossible into possible.  It would be bad if your burn out from stress before they could even return.  Wouldn"t you want to welcome them with a smile?" Clay said, looking straight at Aurum"s currently disguised black eyes.

Surprisingly enough, Aurum did calm down.  She"s still worried, of course, but he"s not drowning from it anymore.  She took a deep breath.  "You"re right."

Instead of worrying, she should believe on her brother.  Worrying tirelessly like this only seemed like she didn"t have any faith in her.

Seeing Aurum"s expression get a little bit better, Clay let out a sigh of relief.  He didn"t quite understand but he didn"t like seeing Aurum this way.  In his opinion, a carefree smile on her face suited her best.  He"d rather see her with her usual proud and stubborn look than this.  

They suddenly felt some kind of wind current from above.  They both looked up but didn"t see anything.  The wind current felt like it was coming closer and closer, then they noticed that the gra.s.s area in front of them seemed to be flattened.  But before they could think of what exactly was happening, an opening suddenly appeared and someone walked out from it.

"Aurum!" Black called who just stepped out of the flying shuttle.

"Black?" Aurum said, a bit surprised suddenly seeing him.  So that wind current was just from the flying shuttle that was about to land.  She immediately walked towards him.  "Is it safe to land here?"

"Don"t worry, White checked for any sign of humans around before landing here." Black then turned to Clay.  "Hi Clay!"

"Hey Black," Clay returned who already walked near them.

"Oh that"s right, Aurum come here quickly."  

After saying that, Black suddenly pulled Aurum inside the flying shuttle that was still currently invisible to them.  Clay, of course, followed.    

The first thing Aurum noticed was White sitting at the very center with wires attached to her nape.  Then there was that elf sitting at one corner.  Then her gaze finally landed on the figure lying on the make-s.h.i.+ft bed.  It was a woman with golden brown hair that slightly pa.s.sed her shoulder.  Her bronze skin looked like it was kissed by the sun itself.

"Mother!"  

She immediately ran and knelt beside her mother.  She observed her mother from head to toe, looking for any signs of injuries.  After not seeing one, she was still not relieved.  After all, if she remembered correctly, one of those Apostles put her under their Gift.  Her mother might be okay outward, but there"s a possibility that something was wrong inside.

Clay looked on at the unconscious woman lying on the makes.h.i.+ft bed.  So this was the d.u.c.h.ess?  

"She"s fine, she"s only unconscious," a voice suddenly said.

Aurum turned towards the voice and saw Lynx standing just beside her.  She didn"t even notice him because all her attention was focused on her mother.  "Are you certain?"

Lynx nodded.  He was secretly hanging around that cottage, so he practically heard most of the things the duke and the Pope talked about.  

Aurum felt like her heart just went back to its proper place when she heard that.  Knowing that her mother was alright, another important problem came to mind.  "How about my brother?  Where is he?  Why didn"t he go back with you?"

"We met an Apostle while we"re trying to leave the forest.  He told me to take your mother away while she stays back and fight with him."

When Lynx was finally out of the forest, he decided to go to that invisible contraption instead of going straight to the meeting point.  He just thought that delivering the d.u.c.h.ess quickly to a safe place was much better than traipsing around town with her in his arms.  That"s why, in his mind, that invisible contraption was a better choice.  Since it"s much closer to the forest.  

Though he did have some problem making sure that no one would notice him while he was jumping up from building to building.  It"s a good thing that the people were still affected by what just happened to the Holy Temple, so n.o.body was really paying much attention to their surroundings.  

He successfully managed to take the unconscious d.u.c.h.ess to this contraption.  And thus, this situation.

"You mean, you just left my brother there?  How about that snake, where was he during all this?" Aurum asked, she was starting to get frantic.  Just the thought of something wrong happening to her brother was enough to make her cold all over.

"It"s alright, Miss Aurum.  Master contacted me earlier.  She"ll soon arrive here," White said with her usual sweet voice with no ups and downs.

Aurum turned to White.  "Truly?"

"Yes, I have no reason to lie to Miss Aurum."

She held onto her chest, trying to calm her heart that was still filled with dread and fear.  She reached out to her mother"s hand and held it tightly, trying to find some kind of rea.s.surance from her warmth.  "That"s good."

But she didn"t have time to relax when she heard Black say; "Look, it"s Master!"

Aurum looked at the screen in front and saw a figure slowly flying down from the sky.  No, it"s not just one single person.  She squinted his eyes and immediately recognized Zhang Lei Feng.  Although it"s kind of weird suddenly seeing him here, her attention was more focused on the person he was holding.  It was her brother.  Not only her, there seemed to be another person on the general"s back.

But she didn"t care about that small detail.  All she could focus on was her brother.  She stood up and ran outside the flying shuttle.  The moment she got out, the general landed at the same time.  She saw him putting down her brother.

"Brother!" She ran towards them.  That"s when she noticed the bandages.  "You"re hurt!"

"It"s okay, these wounds are not that deep," Argent said, trying to appease her sister.  Just by looking at her, she could tell that she was probably very distraught at this moment.  

"But—"

"I"m really okay," she a.s.sured Aurum.  Which wasn"t really a lie.  Aside from a little bit of blood loss, she was truly fine.  "How about Lynx, was he already here?"

Aurum still wanted to fuss about her brother"s injuries, but she knew nothing would come out of it right now.  Since Argent was very determined to say that she was fine.  Then she"d just fuss over it later.

"Yes, she"s inside the shuttle with Mother," she said, answering her brother"s question.

Argent finally let out the sigh of relief she"d been withholding.  While being flown here, she was full of worry about what could have happened to the two.  Especially with her mother.

"Then it"s time to leave this place."

She looked back at Lei Feng who was still carrying Viper at his back.  She gestured for him to follow and he nodded.

Then they all entered the flying shuttle.