Aria takes deep breaths as she watches the man move. For someone so large he is very light on his feet. Of course, he hasn’t landed a blow on her yet, but his movements and reactions are impressive. She easily dodges his fists as he throws them at her back-to-back. But he isn’t letting her relax. He just keeps coming at her.

“Impressive, you are. Too bad you haven’t landed a hit on me yet,” she mocks, before giving a punch of her own. She throws her fist, bursting into flames as she hits him right in the face. He doesn’t even flinch! Her eyes slightly widen. Not only is he massive, but he’s also durable. The punch didn’t even break his nose. She barely made a dent.

He snickers,” Was I supposed to feel something there, little girl?” His question annoys her. But she reels in that emotion quickly before it gets too out of hand. She is supposed to only show her fire abilities. Not the other ones, unless there is a need.

The man laughs and runs at her, causing her to back away quickly. He throws more punches, barely missing her. But the impact it leaves has her a bit worried. If she got hit with any of these, she might end up with a broken bone! A groan escapes her as she realizes, she can’t toy with him haphazardly.

She dodges one punch and grabs the arm. Using more of her strength than before, she drags him around, throwing him out of the way. He flies forward and she launches herself at him, ready to deliver a critical blow. Her eyes glow as the air around her heats up. She lets the flames grow around her foot and she uses that momentum to send the fire soaring after the man.

The man glances back, his eyes widening. He quickly ducks. “Michaela, watch out!” the woman yells, bringing her own weapon up to the child. Aria glares at her before quickly creating a fireball in her hand. She throws it at the woman and turns her attention back to the large man she has been fighting. The other man quickly pushes the woman out of the way and easily douses the fire with his bare hands.

The large man, Michaela rushes at her, his hulking body moving faster than anticipated. She gulps. Maybe this wasn’t her smartest idea. Aria tries to dodge the man by leaping over him, which also wasn’t a smart idea.

The man grabs ahold of her hoodie. She gasps out, not expecting to be choked by her own clothing. Instead of slamming her on the ground like he would normally, the man just lets her hang, snickering. “Maybe you should try fighting someone more on your level, child,” he sneers. Aria glares, her grey eyes glowing in rage. Her fists burst in flames as she glances over her shoulder at him.

“I’m not a child,” she snaps, before grabbing onto his wrist with her fire engulfed hands. He yelps, not expecting the searing heat and releases her. She lands on her feet and quickly throws a punch into his abdomen. She puts more power into it, making sure to force him back. If it wasn’t the surprising force she had, the heat from the fire around her fists only adds more pain to him. He grunts with each blow, taking steps back.

Nali’s eyes widen in realization, and she aims her gun at Aria, who is distracted. She sends the shot, a shock of electricity, which has been condensed into a small bullet. It hits Aria in her leg, causing her to stumble. She gasps out in pain as currents of electricity courses up her leg.

“Ah!! Likai,” she shouts, holding onto her leg. Even though it isn’t a deep wound, the electricity almost makes it hard to move. She glares at the woman, her eyes burning with fury. The nerve she had to shoot! “Why would you shoot me?” she snaps.

Michaela isn’t any happier. He did not want any help and he made himself clear. He storms towards Nali, who stands unafraid of him. “She was mine to handle, Nali. What were you thinking?” his anger rolls over the everyone, like a thick fog.

Ilo moves in front of her,” You did not have her handled. Plus, we are to detain the prisoner, not try to challenge her.” Nali smiles softly at him. But Michaela scoffs, not buying the whole knight in shining armor gig for a second.

“Oh please, just because you and her have some kind of affair going on, doesn’t mean you cut her slack, oh fearless leader,” he snarls. As he glares, Ilo stands up to him. Which isn’t much since Michaela has at least five inches on him in height and had more muscle.

“I did what I though was the right call. She is a lot more dangerous than what you think,” Nali explains,” don’t you see her hair and eyes?” Michaela glances over at the child, who is pulling out the bullet, with what looks like water. Which confuses him because he knows she has pyrokinesis. He has the burns to prove it. However, he focuses on her short black curly hair, which is now visible since the hoodie is off and the silver streak in her bang. Odd for someone so young. He also catches notice of a strange tattoo on her face. Then he remembers that her eyes were silver. Glowing as she seemed to increase in power.

He grunts,” So she has silver eyes and funky hair. Maybe she’s a disgruntled child trying to rebel against her guardians.”

Nali rolls her eyes. Of course he’s a simpleton. “She is Eliarin. That old clan that was massacred a long time ago?” Nali keeps her gun trained on the girl as she moves around the two men.

“Who are you?” she asks. She has heard so many stories of the clan but has never seen one in real life. It’s extraordinary.

The girl glares at the woman,” I’m pretty sure you already know, by the look in your eyes.” She quickly heals her wound, catching everyone by surprise, even Elias and Evritt, who were watching the scene unfold from the window in the van. Standing, Aria moves her arms into a defensive stance.

Nali nods,” I do. And I bet you are the lanai, aren’t you? We all watched you use the water to clean your wound and heal it instantaneously.”

Aria sneers,” Of course you did. Now what?”

“I can’t take you on my own. And quite frankly, neither can Michaela. The big lug. But we must take you in at all cost.” Nali explains, motioning for the other two to join her. Hearing everything, Michaela and Ilo quickly move into position to fight alongside Nali. Nali is the tactical expert for a reason.

Aria’s eyes glow as she mulls over her odds. She might as well. She could still feel Evritt and Elias just watching as they have yet to move from the van. “Bring it then,” she challenges.

~

Evritt gapes, taking in the information he just discovered. “Aria is the lanai.” He glances over at Elias, who looks just as shocked. It all makes sense. As he watches her fight three ajin civics at once, he is convinced. He watches at she dodges an attack from the large man and then launches herself in the air with ease. Aria sends balls of fire to the civics from her position and seems to spin in the air and push the woman without even touching her.

You two are supposed to be leaving, he hears her groan. Both Elias and he gulp at the annoyance in her voice. I’m buying time so you two can get away.

Evritt pouts, I don’t want to leave you. You will be captured and taken back to the Citadel. He doesn’t want that to happen. She had gone through too much there, and they only know that she was imprisoned there.

Elias keeps looking around at the van before an idea pops in his head. I think I have an idea. Hold them off a little bit longer, Aria. He moves to floor of the van and looks around for the system that controls the van itself.

Aria grunts, dodging a power orb from the other man with lowcut hair. She notices that he tends to defend the woman with more haste than the other man and snickers. She stomps on the ground, causing the earth to rumble and then a huge chunk of the ground lifts out of it place. she punches the rock, sending towards the man with super strength. He has to be the most troublesome because even for his wide body and his short temper, he is able to move quickly and think with sense in a battle.

The woman, whose name she learned is Nali, keeps shooting that annoying weapon at her. While trying to fight the strong man, she has to deal with a sharpshooter and someone who shoots balls of energy. How… annoying. She can handle it of course. It’s just not something she wants to do. Aria uses the air around her to create a shield that would block the bullets and then she sends it flying at the woman.

Hearing a growl, she quickly dodges Michaela as he tries to ram into her, moving her arms so a stream of water would follow her. She uses the stream to hit the man in the face then she causes vines from the earth to rise from below the ground. They grab hold of Michaela’s limbs and tighten as he tries to escape. Aria jumps up and headbutts him. Hard enough to make the man pass out.

Aria’s eyes dart around to Nali as she dashes towards her. “I don’t want to fight you, but we must take you in,” the woman yells, struggling to stand.

“Well, I am not going with you,” she snaps, punching the ground. This causes medium sized stones to rise from the ground and swirl around her. She grins, sending them flying at the woman. Using the distraction, she moves in close and throws a punch at the woman.

Nali barely manages to catch the punch. She kicks her foot, missing because Aria leaps over the foot and then kicks Nali in the chest with both feet. How much longer? She asks Elias.

Elias snickers, finding the wire he needs and snaps it in half. Just a few more seconds.

Aria groans, seeing the other man Ilo run at her. This fight is now dragging because of that boy. She dodges an energy beam and uses the air to force the man backwards. The man gasps out, the rush of pain slamming into him.

Another bullet penetrates Aria’s arm and she cries out in pain as electricity shoots through her body. Her eyes snap to the woman, who has her gun back up and loaded. “Why you… wench!” she growls. Nali scoffs, moving closer.

“No need for name calling, little guardian. Now come quietly, or I will put you unconscious.” She threatens.

Aria’s eyes spark, flickering a red. One that makes Nali nervous. She feels a sense of trepidation as Aria tries to control her anger. “I already told you, I am not coming with you.” She snaps.

Nali shrugs,” Well then, I guess we will just have to take the two boys into custody. They both have serious infractions to account for.” She is making a bluff, trying to distract her, while Ilo moves into position.

At that statement, Aria snaps. Her eyes flash a blood red color before darkening to a deeper red. She glares at the two. “You will not touch a hair on either of them,” she growls. Her nails sharpen into talons, and she can feel fangs grow as her anger spikes.

Nali and Ilo tense, feeling an increase in pressure emanating from the girl. She looks a bit more menacing now. Before, she was just a bit more annoying, but now? Nali is worrying about how she tried to bluff at her. Ooh, what a predicament they found themselves in.

Aria, blinded by rage, dashes forward, hands open as dark energy shapes around her hands. Ilo moves to protect Nali, his own balls of energy ready. But what they aren’t prepared for is the shadow that follows. Aria slips into her own shadow, before disappearing into midair. Nali curses, wildly looking around.

Ilo swears,” What on Allanus just happened?” He looks back to see Aria leap from the shadows. They both are too frozen to react as she readies her attack. Her claws are out, dark energy rumbling through her hands. The deep red swirls latch onto Ilo’s arm and she yanks him towards her.

Her red eyes glow, making her look like a daemin. She growls,” You are plying with the wrong one, salgri. I am not to be toyed with.” Using her strength, she drags Ilo to the ground. He gasps out blood as his face makes contact with the ground first. Pain shoots through his face then travels through his body.

She doesn’t even give him the time to breathe as she slams his head into the ground again, knocking him.

Nali screams, shooting her gun at the girl. What she doesn’t expect is that Aria catches the bullets, easily.

Aria snickers. Where were these reflexes before? She looks down at the woman, catching sight of the fear in her eyes. Her eyes soften. Oh, gods. She blinks, her eyes returning to their silvery shade. She glances at the man that she slammed into the ground. That… looks like it hurt a lot.

She looks back at the woman and uses the air around her, to push the woman against the van and then she slams her into the ground. “Um, sorry!” she mummers.

Leaving the unconscious civics, she hurries over the van. Its body is really wide but it looks sleek. She opens the door after a few tries and climbs inside to see Elias grinning as he puts the finishing touches to his masterpiece. “Just in time,” he grins, proudly.

Evritt smiles, excitedly,” You’re the lanai? That is so cool!” Aria nods, chuckling nervously at the praise. It is very rare that she gets praise. She makes herself comfortable in the seat, urging Evritt to do the same. As she watches Elias settle himself into the driver’s seat, she begins to feel uneasy.

“Elias, you do know how to work this thing… right?” she asks, nervously.

Elias nods,” I mean, I’ve never driven one but how hard could this be?” He starts the van and moves a lever. Suddenly, the car jerks forward. Towards the civics on the ground.

Both Aria and Evritt gasp out in fear. “Elias! I would like to not run over people!” Aria snaps, her voice trembling.

“My bad,” Elias chuckles, before moving the lever again and this time, the van moves backwards at a troubling speed. As he whips the wheel the van follows, turning to face the other direction. He then speeds off.

Aria grabs hold of the door, fear paralyzing her body. She might actually die today!