Un-Chain

Uteu woke up with a gasp. His body felt as heavy as lead.

He had heard the explosions in his sleep. He was aware of the things happening around him but was unable to wake up no matter how much he had willed his body to.

It wasn't until this moment that he was able to regain his mobility. Throwing off his dark grey sheets, he nearly fell off his bed in his haste.

Scrambling to his feet, he barely managed to pull on his shoes as he ran out into the hall to get himself to his siblings.

By the time he went down the stairs, most of the fires were extinguished by the maids. He eyed the scorch marks and frowned. Uteu was really starting to hate fires.

On his way to the the twin's room he literally bumped into Harvet. They stabilized each other to prevent the other from falling.

"Little sir. You're safe!" She smiled sadly, her face looked stricken as she slowly removed her arms from him.

Uteu looked behind her and saw an unconscious Minh. In her l.a.p was an equally unconscious Ulo.

"I'm sorry little sir, the little miss was..." Harvet held out her hand and the object caused Uteu's mind to blank.

He took in a slow breath as he stared.

Fury wrapped around Uteu's mind at the little white whistle in Harvet's hand. The string was burnt and snapped in half. There was even a smudge of red in the corner that looked like blood and-

Uteu couldn't think as he yelled out in frustration and ran off. He let his instincts lead him. Harvet followed closely behind him. He felt she might have begged to come along with him but he was too furious to pay attention to her words now.

He could remember nearly yelling at a few maids to tend to Ulo and Minh before bolting out of the mansion.

It was still the middle of the night and Uteu could not see a thing outside of the mansion once he closed the door behind him. He slowed his breathing and could hear the sprinklers. The maids likely activated them to put out any fires outside.

What now?

He needed to find Uti but how?

He closed his eyes called upon his chain to Grello. They were so far apart now, but it didn't matter. The chain materialized before his mind's eye, seeing the familiar spiga chain slowly eased his anger.

He let the chain wrap around his arm. Although it was not actually physical, he could feel warmth from the silver chain.

Opening his eyes he traced the chain with his other arm. He couldn't actually touch the chain. Yet, he could somehow feel a slight tingle at his fingertips as he continued tracing the pattern.

He coaxed the buffs that he needed from the chain. It shook slowly before he could no longer see it.

Uteu didn't feel alarmed when the chain vanished because in the back of his mind, he knew he had gotten through. He felt lighter as a wind picked up and circled around him. Uteu wrapped the three different blue lights around him and took off. In the back of his mind, he thanks Grello and hoped this wouldn't affect the man harmfully.

He breathed in deeply and suddenly the world seemed to light up before his eyes. Many different colors blinked to life like fireflies. They were all faint colors, dull because they didn't have a strong connection to himself.

By the forest he had first seen Lina burst out from, he could see something sparkling. With a small leap, he landed right next to the golden thread wrapped lightly around some leaves on a shrub. He reached out and grasped at the sparkling thread.

As soon as he grasped it, an image of his little sister flashed in his mind. She wasn't injured but was somewhere dark and alone.

Panic and fright hit him hard. Nearly knocking the air from his lungs.

He was feeling Uti's emotions and his heart ached for her. He pivoted his foot and took off into the direction the golden thread seemed to originate from.

He nearly snarled when something, or rather someone, got in his way.

He didn't pay attention to the person's face, lightning wrapped around his arm, ready to strike. The lightning was much more concentrated and denser than before. Uteu felt it in his bones, this time the strike would be deadly.

Uteu could see the other person, a man, with his hand out and a large trench knife in it. As Uteu readied the lightning to attack, a blur intercepted the man. A strong hand twisted the man's arm and easily dislocated it. A strong jab to the back of the person's neck had the man crumple to the floor.

Harvet stood by the man, giving Uteu a very concerned look. Uteu felt the lightning fizzle away from him as he looked at her.

"Please leave them to me, little sir." She said as she cracked her knuckles.

There was a term for her. What was it again?

Ah, a Thew was it? Someone who fought without magic or something?

He watched on as Harvet cleared the path as even more men popped up from behind the trees. Using only her hands, she cleanly knocked them out. It was hard to associate her gentle hands that had once comforted him, with the way she easily and swiftly snapped a man's leg.

As he watched her, a feeling arose in him once again. An instinctive feeling to form a connection with her settled at the bottom of his stomach. He gritted his teeth. This really wasn't the time.

For a second, Uteu regretted that he didn't read the books when he had the chance. He was sure the information probably would have helped him in this situation.

When she downed the last man she casually dusted off her hands. Harvet looked up and took quick quiet steps towards Uteu and slid behind him, ready to follow wherever he went. Uteu quelled the urge to force a chain with her. He would not make the same reckless mistake like he did to Harlin.

Uteu focused on the golden thread as it glittered in a way to call his attention. He narrowed his eyes as he watched it flicker and bend. The direction had changed. Someone was moving Uti further away.