INSIGNIAS: THE REGALIS

The dark clouds of the dim sky cleared, giving enough light to recognize the figures standing on the hill. Neus in black knight armour led the Concordians and Mortemians who sought the Seven. His sharp gaze focused on Skhy who nodded weakly at him. The knight's expression didn't change but he stared at each Regali, narrowing his eyes at Faz. Just behind him were the other knights of the Elders' Chamber. Concordians, mostly sentries, stood beside them on their right. Mortemians, some of who are members of Eclipse, stood on their left. Ciar stepped forward, his left arm wrapped with dark bandages. Everyone seemed guarded and ready to fight the Regalis.

Skhy glanced nervously at his friends. While Faz appeared anxious like him, the others regarded the Concordians and Mortemians with calm and unbothered expressions. The silence and anticipation made his heart beat in loud and painful beats. He feared the worst - the Regalis fighting their allies. He harboured the idea an hour before but the reality scared him.

His power awakened when he saw Levvy's lifeless body three hours earlier. It turned out that his friends from L.S.A. left the academy to protect the civilians in North Edgeburn. Levvy, Ice and Ellie drew away the magical and gigantic monsters to South Edgeburn when they neared the border. When Skhy found them, Ellie was crying over Levvy's bloody form while Ice stood in shock. Skhy was reminded of Carol's death. He exploded in anger and regret, creating powerful hurricanes in the dessert. He couldn't stop killing the Roseins and the magical monsters. He didn't care that his allies were swept by his wind. He had a mission to eliminate the Rosein Army and the monsters. He won't stop for anything until he was done. Something snapped him awake. It was a hot feeling on his chest, making it difficult to breathe. The suppressed feelings and memories came rushing, making him remember and cry. He threw up a few seconds after. Stopping Faz was harder than he thought. He was stronger and smarter than Skhy. But before Faz strike the killing blow, Faz woke up on his own. He refused to say what made him stop and remember.

"We got to stop," he told his friends. Nate turned to him.

"We can't," Nate replied, "We won't." He's not Nate but he's in there somewhere. Skhy placed his hand on Nate's shoulder.

"We can and we will." Skhy looked into his friend's eyes. His statement didn't move Nate. He could see it in Nate's cold eyes.

"So we're splitting up," Clyne stated.

"What?" Faz asked. Skhy paled. He glanced at Neus and his companions who stood waiting on the hill.

"You refused to finish the mission." Tessa's golden orbs turned to magnificent blue ones. They were both mesmerizing and scary.

"We don't need you." Skhy's eyes widened at Lei's statement. Sadness and fear enveloped him. Nate stepped away from him, taking his side near Tessa, Lei, Clyne and Aria.

"Stop this," Faz gritted his teeth, "We cannot fight our own."

Before seeking his friends, Skhy and Faz met the Elders' Chamber's knights. They were about to fight Skhy and Faz before the two explained their side. Neus said that the Regalis destroyed a huge part of the South Edgeburne including the resident monsters which sleep peacefully below the ground. Their merciless killing affected not only the Roseins. Skhy paled. He felt guilty and ashamed.

"Stop the Regalis," Neus said with grim expression, "Otherwise, we will do it." Gone were the faces of the Regalis' mentors. The knights faced Skhy and Faz with a face of a soldier who will fight to their death to protect Arconien. The Regalis are not meant to be the enemies...

But at back of Skhy's mind, doubt as to the true nature of the Regalis blossomed. It was there from the time the secrets of L.S.A. were revealed. It was only now that he questioned the prophecy.

"If you stop us, we will fight you." Aria's voice pulled him from his deep thoughts. Skhy searched his friends' faces for their true selves.

"Skhy." He glanced at Faz whose jaw was clenched. Like him, Faz was struggling to decide the right course of action. Skhy gulped the rising neusea in his throat and glanced at Neus to give him the sign.

The blow that hit his chest hurt more emotionally than physically. He was thrown back several meters. His back touched the sands for three seconds before he jumped up. He brushed the sands on his chest. Clyne had his palm facing Skhy. Skhy dodged Clyne's attacks of sands and rocks. He glanced at Faz who was also dodging Tessa's water, Nate's metals and Lei's vines. Aria suddenly appeared beside him, surprising him. She threw two flaming balls at him. He swerved right, the edge of the flames warmed his left arm. He panted heavily as he stared at Clyne and Aria. Aria attacked again with ten balls of flames, making him curse silently. He quickly raised his right hand and a gush of straight wind eliminated the flames. They didn't let him rest. Clyne made the ground shake. A crack appeared in front of him where sands pour through. Skhy ran as the crack followed him. His heart and laboured breathing were trying to keep up with him. They're really trying to kill me... He felt scared and heartbroken. He knew that with the Seven's level of power, they could kill one another, but he refused to kill his friends. His heart felt heavy knowing that they were trying to hurt one another. There must be another way.

"Tessa!,' he heard Faz shout. "Stop this. Please." Their friends were beyond hearing. The power of Regalis consumed them. The prophecy they knew didn't mention being overtaken by the strange power the origin of which is unknown to them. The only thing Skhy knew is that the Regalis were powerful. Their strength and ability were incomparable. They could change the course of the universe if they want to. But they could also be the source of the world's destruction, if their powers were not properly used. He feared that both scenarios were going to happen soon.

When another crack on the ground appeared in front of him, Skhy jumped to fly. He hovered a few feet above the growing slits, the sands continued to flow inside the void. Aria attacked him with large blue flames. He dodged some and destroyed the others. Clyne and Aria didn't seem tired while using enormous amount of energy while Skhy was already panting and sweating. Because I'm not using all of my Regali power. He couldn't use it without losing himself.

"Hurry." Skhy flinched when he heard Ciar's voice in his mind. "The others are anxious."

Skhy gritted his teeth. He looked around as if the answer to their problem was lying around. Skhy thought about how he overcame the power. The heat on his chest was something he couldn't understand but his memories helped him control the power.

"The portal," he whispered. It had the power to reflect even a person's repressed memories. But how?

"Ciar," he spoke internally as he fought Clyne and Aria, "We need a portal." He had no idea how difficult it is to make but it was Skhy's only idea.

A life size boulder painfully hit Skhy on the shoulder when he tried to avoid it, making him drop on the ground. He spit the sands that got into his mouth. When he felt Aria's burst of energy, he rolled away before the flames hit the sands, melting them. Skhy glanced at where Ciar stood. Come on. But he wasn't there anymore. He wondered if Ciar heard his call.

"We are going to win," Nate said cooly. Skhy grimaced when he saw that Faz had removed his shirt and red lines of wounds decorated his chest and back.

"You are bound to lose," Clyne added. Is this how I'm going to die? In the hands of my friends?

Suddenly, the wind picked up its speed. Skhy turned around and found a growing circle of darkness suspended a few meters above the ground. It began sucking the sands and air.

"It could be a portal or a demons' lair," Ciar's voice reached him.

"What?"

"The only one who can create both can't control his power."

"If that's a demon's portal, it's dangerous."

"If it is, it'll be easier to fight them because their powers will be weakened." Skhy frowned in concentration.

"What if we don't survive?" Ciar didn't reply so Skhy was alone in his dark thoughts.