II.II Difference

"Should've used it a while ago."

I muttered to myself as I followed Mother's lead. The moon was fully covered in clouds, a sharp contrast to just a few minutes ago when it was lighting our path as brightly as a fluorescent lamp. For just a few minutes, we walked almost blindly through the rocky plain before Mother finally decided to light a flame in her hand as a light source. But the damage was already done by the time we could finally see.

We had somehow gotten ourselves lost in our own extensive backyard.

Mother had stayed silent ever since she conjured up her ball of flame, with myself simply following her lead since she had the light source. It's been a few minutes already, but she seemed to just not find the way back to our house. At this point, we should've been sitting down at the table eating dinner, but Mother just refused to let me help her.

Why?

"I don't think the house is-mmmphhh!"

A hand suddenly covered my mouth as Mother extinguished the flame in her hand.  

What's happening?!

I strained my eyes in the dark, trying to assess just what or why Mother decided to pull us down on the ground.

...

......

*tap... tap...*

The light tumbling of rocks pierced through the calm silence of the field.

Movement... from the rocks a few meters down... My ears picked up a strange chirping sound from them... the sound of... electricity?

I felt myself being dragged lower into the ground as Mother quickly dragged us behind a large rock. She pulled out her sword, the blade glinting at what little light there was in this moonless night, in preparation for what's to come.

My heart pounded in my chest as the sudden surprise put my brain into overdrive.

Was it an animal? An enemy? Some form of magical creature? I had too little information for me to work with at the moment. Whatever it was, it wouldn't do for me to be defenseless while Mother took point.

I brandished my bow and nocked an arrow between my fingers, my eyes desperately scanning our surroundings as I followed Mother's lead through the large rocks that seemed to be providing us some cover.

"What're we hiding from?" I whispered to her as I carefully followed her through the cracks.

"I'll explain later," Mother replied in a hiss, her tone deathly silent as she gestured towards another large rock. "Just follow my lead."

I nodded as we slowly made our way towards another outcrop of rocks; the inclined terrain giving us natural cover from any kind of attack from down the slope.

*tap... tap...*

The sound of tumbling pebbles stopped us in our tracks. I raised my bow down towards the source of the sound, ready to let loose at the first sign of movement. Beside me, Mother crouched down on the ground, tensing her body for an attack. We waited...

And waited...

....

.......

And wai-

*Clunk*

There!

With a speed I never knew I possessed, I adjusted my aim just slightly to the left and let loose. My arrow flew with remarkable aim, lodging itself directly on the rock that was covering its would-be target. Mother stayed vigilant beside me, our eyes planted firmly on my arrow's general direction as we waited for any sign of movement.

*tap.. tap... Woosh!*

A large raven emerged from behind the rock, its wings flapping with a force that moved smaller rocks underneath it.

I chuckled soundlessly at the situation. We were scared of a bird? Has paranoia gone too fa-

*KRAKATHOOM!*

What was that?!

A bright light streaked from another outcrop of rocks just beside my arrow, a sound akin to thunderous lightning booming through my ears as a white blur rushed straight at our location.

*CLANG!!*

I could barely even see as a resounding clash of metal echoed throughout the air, the peculiar smell of burning ozone reaching my nose as I blinked away the bright spots from my eyes.

*CLANG!! WHOOSH!!*

My heart pounded as fast as it could possibly go as I shakily reached for another arrow to nock at my bow. I-I couldn't even begin to describe just how quickly everything happened in front of me.

She'd shown me her fire powers for all but one time; back when I was still eight years old all those years ago. While I had asked her to teach me, she adamantly denied that I'd have any form of fire powers, or any other form of magic aside from what I can use during smithing. She told me that Numerators were the only ones capable of wielding what she called 'Elementalism' and that me having Runic Energy meant that I was already a Denominator.

*CLANG!! WHOOSH!! CRACK!!*

Sparks of clashing metal. A streak of fiery red flames. A bolt of lightning shooting from the moving figure in black.

I half-marveled, half-stared in horror at the sight before me as the beautiful display of magic danced on the makeshift battlefield. I strained my eyes at the sight, finding Mother crossing blades with what I assumed to be another Numerator in black clothing.

*CLANG!!*

The two combatants disengaged in favor of establishing distance from one another. Mother gripped her red-hot sword on one hand, her stance a refined form of what she's been teaching me. Her opponent meanwhile held a dagger, its edge crackling with white electricity as they crouched lower to the ground. I froze as the figure turned their head towards me, electric-blue eyes glinting with sadistic glee as I locked eyes with the dangerous figure.

*KRAKATHOOM!!*

My eyes widened as the figure turned into a streak of white lighting barreling towards me. Time seemed to slow down as I sat helplessly in the face of my impending demise.

Was this how I'll die? Burnt to a crisp by someone I don't even know?

*CLANG!!*

A resounding clang reverberated as I shielded my eyes from the bright sparks in front of me.

"Crimson!" Mother? "Get out of here!"

I rushed to get my eyes open only to see that my mother was standing in front of me, both of her hands supporting her sword in front of her as our attacker seemed to struggle on breaking through her guard. Crackles of electricity sparked on the figure's dagger as it tried to push the flaming sword away from its path, both Mother and our assailant breathing heavily through their teeth as their clash became a battle of strength on who could overpower the other.

I found myself looking back to the bow in my hand, the arrow I nocked earlier still in its place as I tried to contain my breath. Mother was fighting someone... An enemy that validates my thoughts all those years ago. I've trained for this moment for years, but now that it's here...

Can I even do anything?

*SHIIIING!*

"Crimson!" I heard my Mother yell, the sliding screech of metal on metal making her words stand out against the cacophony of noise. "What're you doing?! Go!!"

I couldn't even hear what Mother's yelling to me anymore as I stared intently at the bow in my hand. My heart pounded in my ears as I shakily raised my weapon to aim.

Judging from the speed in which the figure zipped in and out of combat, the logical voice inside me yelled that what I was doing would only get Mother and I killed. That I was far from being skilled enough to even hit a moving target, let alone someone as fast as lightning. But even so...

*CLANG!!! CLANG!! WHOOSH!!*

"CRIMSON!!"

I had to try...

I released the string from my fingers, the arrow immediately flying towards what I hoped to be my target.

*CRACK!*

I watched in silent horror as the arrow broke into pieces mid-flight as an arc of lightning cut it in two. Both Mother and her opponent quickly looked to my general direction, the former with the same look of horror on my face while the figure looked at me with amused glee, finally pulling down the mask obscuring his face to reveal a toothed grin.

"So..." The lighting-wielding figure began as he twirled his dagger in his palm. "The Flame has a daughter~"

*Zap!*

"Eeek!"

A spark of electricity flew from the man's dagger straight towards my bow, my hand spasming in pain as the bow fell from my grasp. I bit back a sob as the electricity lingered on my left fingertips, the pain in my hand akin to a small shock from an electric socket of old.

"Don't you dare..." Mother ground out, the fire in her sword intensifying to the point of illuminating the small patch of rocky ground they were fighting on. The heat was becoming unbearable, her flames radiating with the power of the sun. "I'm your target, Dividend."

Dividend?

"Hahaha! D'you think we'd care?!" The man laughed maniacally, sparks shooting around him as he spread his arms out as if to embrace the heat from Mother's sword. "I'm sure she's either a Num or a Den. Either way, she'll be drafted in service to the Empire!"

*WHOOSH!*

I can only watch as the flames burst forth; a streak of fire slashing out from Mother as she seemed to cut the air with her sword. The flame soared through the air, making its way towards the laughing man.

*SLASH!*

In an instant, the streak of flame dissipated, revealing white sparks of electricity as the man slashed through it like it was nothing.

"Was that all you've got, Flame?!" The man taunted, his grin shadowed by the light of his own lightning. "You've gotten soft, haven't you? I told them you're too-"

*WHOOOOSH!!*

Another attack from Mother as she swung her sword downwards; a wall of flame as tall as her shooting forth from her sword.

*KRAKATHOOM!!*

A streak of lightning erupted from the figure's location, overpowering the red-hot flames. The residual energy lingered in the air, the ozone burning all around him.

"Won't even let me finish myself?" The man taunted. His hair was no longer obscured by a layer of cloth, his golden mane now fluttering to the searing wind as his clothing looked singed from both attacks. "Where did all the good times go?"

"You were no friend of mine, Lightning." Mother voiced her disdain, her flowing red hair billowing against her flames. "How did you find me?"

"I'm a Dividend. Of course I'll find you lot~"

A Dividend? Another math term used in a different context... What did it mean even then?

"Of course, it's not just me~"

A stone dropped in my stomach as the implication sank in...

Was Father okay?!

*WHOOSH!*

Another wall of flame erupted from Mother's sword, obscuring us from the man's vision.

"We have to go!" Mother pulled me upright, her momentum dragging me through leaps and bounds that I never even imagined was possible in this world. "If he comes for us-"

*KRAKATHOOM!!*

The telltale sound of lightning boomed behind us before I saw a flash of white zoom past my left-hand side. Mother immediately put her guard up, her sword in front of her as the lightning materialized into the man's lanky yet imposing figure.

"Going somewhere?~" His dagger glowed with power, his expression playful yet unsettling.

I moved to brandish an arrow from my quiver but was stopped when I found myself soaring past the figure, my body suddenly in the air as I saw my Mother rush the Dividend beneath me.

*CLANG! CLANG! CRACK!*

"Go!!" My mother shouted as fire and lightning raged on beneath me. "I'll catch up-"

*KRAKATHOOM!!*

"Don't forget about me, Flame~" I heard the man taunt as another flash of electricity lit up the battlefield. "We still have a score to settle~"

I braced myself as I unceremoniously rolled on the ground, the momentum of Mother's throw placing me a few meters away from their battle. Without even looking back, I immediately sprinted away from them, my mind running on overdrive as I desperately tried to find my way back home.

The man said that he wasn't alone. And if he wasn't alone...

Where's the other one?

I fought off the gnawing dread in my chest as I powered through the fatigue; my training from just a few hours ago not doing me any favors as my legs burned just to keep me from falling. The smell of burning hit my nose as a draft of wind hit me...

No...

My heart pounded as I followed the foreboding smell, my breath running ragged as I pushed myself to the limit.

"No... No way...."

I froze in my tracks as an orange hue lit up the horizon. Tears threatened to burst through as I stared helplessly at the horrific sight before me.

The house... it was on fire.

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