Opening his eyes, Slava was greeted with a sea of leaves. Tilting his head back down, he met Serena's gaze. Her stare still felt cold, yet somehow caring. She lightly nodded and the vines around him retreated, letting him move his arms.

  Having his mind invaded like this really wasn't pleasant. He could feel, hear, and see everything she did. If he could, he would rather forget the more… vivid feelings.

  "I don't know how much she showed you, but judging by your reactions," Kolya snickered, glancing at both of their twisted expressions, "it seems like she showed you the important part," he laughed. Eventually, his expression turned stern and he continued. "But seriously, now you understand why I had to leave. It was too dangerous, with so many parties involved, it would've been hard to hide what I had become."

  It was a lot to take in, Slava had a hard time processing it all at once. An organization called Henosis and a mysterious man who seemingly opposed them.

  Although, one thing stood out to him. If he didn't focus on the details, there was one thing that felt wrong. What he had just experienced was Serena's memory, right? And she was the only one who witnessed it happen since Kolya's memory of that time had been erased. So essentially, there was a possibility that she had twisted the narrative. If Serena could make people "live" through her memories, then couldn't she also modify them? Serena also seemed to have an intriguing past…

  "Who was that man?" His train of thought was interrupted by Sasha's shaky voice. She seemed on the verge of bursting out in anger. "Who would dare mess with my family's work." Looking at her, Slava could see her shaking, purple sparks dancing around her irises. "This is all wrong! That's not what…" She was almost screaming at this point, her voice was reverberating throughout the small clearing and the sparks, which were restricted to her eyes, began spreading all around her. "I couldn't even get access to any of my uncle's stuff and now you're telling me that someone is using him and his work for his own benefit?" It seemed like Sasha had tried investigating the ‘AI Protocol’ to no avail.

  By now, Slava could feel Sasha's domain expanding at an alarming rate. The world around her was distorting and despite there being no wind the surrounding plants seemed to be fluttering.

  "Calm down child, don't let your emotions cloud your judgment," as he heard those words coming out of Serena's mouth, he saw her eyes glow. Instantly turning his gaze back to Sasha, he shivered. He couldn't look at her in this state for too long, he got the feeling of drowning in an ocean of plants. To him, these eyes felt almost omnipresent. "I've seen too many getting lost, succumbing to their own domain."

  Sasha was now grabbing her head. Screaming, she was shaking, her body slowly starting to crack. No, this couldn't be, not again! The world spun around him. He felt boundless energy flowing through him, and the world began to familiarly dim, but before he could do anything, cracks spread through his surroundings.

  "Stop!" Kolya had appeared behind him, holding him back, stopping him from rushing forward.

  "Let go!" He grunted. The world had returned to normal and he could feel his friend suppressing him.

  "Trust in Serena," he said calmly. Turning his head, Slava could now see Serena's glowing figure slowly moving towards Sasha. Blinking, the sight before him gradually changed. He could see colored auras manifesting around them. Sasha was surrounded by a massive purple aura that constantly increased in intensity. Serena on the other hand was surrounded by a uniform green hue that spread in all directions. As she approached, the green became denser, slowly overshadowing Sasha's purple.

  Slava was stunned, how was she doing this? Gritting his teeth, he watched on. Eventually, they came face to face with one another. Kneeling down, Serena softly touched Sasha's chin, lifting it up and forcing their eyes to meet. Sparks stormed around them, but when Sasha finally peered into Serena's glowing eyes, everything stopped. The clashes, distortions, and cracks all disappeared while Sasha's now bright blue eyes glistened. Soon enough, a tear gradually made its way down her cheek. Before she could do anything, Serena softly embraced her with her massive arms, letting Sasha bury her head in her chest.

  When Kolya let him go, Slava fell to his knees. So it was possible! He could save her! If he went back…

  "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't think it would shock you this much," Kolya sighed. "You have to be careful since you guys are Awakened now, it is a part of you." Looking at Slava's expecting gaze, he shook his head. "Letting go of the thinking when it comes to controlling your domain also has its drawbacks. It allows your mind to access your domain in different ways. Unconsciously, like what probably happened to you in your dream or emotionally like what happened just now," he said, nodding towards Sasha. "There are also the consequences to pushing the link to your domain to its limits." Saying this, he clenched his fists, letting a red aura spread all around him. The aura became denser and denser, his body swelled and contracted alternatively and familiar cracks began spreading through his skin. "If you're not careful you might lose a part of the link to your domain. It can go from memory loss to literally shattering into nothing." Receiving Serena's glare, he abruptly stopped. The aura disappeared and his body returned to normal.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "But… why?" Slava tried to ask. He felt angry and sad but most of all, betrayed. Not letting him finish, Kolya intervened.

  "Why did I not tell you?" He said, facing his friend's conflicted expression head-on. "For the same reason that I didn't tell you about Henosis. I didn't want to overwhelm you." He was probably right, if he heard that there was a way to save his sister, he would've probably ignored everything else he'd said.

  "Keep in mind that the only reason why Serena was able to stop Sasha was because she was that much stronger than her. From what you told us you wouldn't hold a candle to your sister so don't even think about it," he said, watching as Sasha and Serena slowly stood back up, the green healing glow around Sasha gradually fading.

  He had to get stronger, he had to get better, he had to go back, he had to go back, he had to go back.

  "They're coming," Serena suddenly said. Startled, Slava stood back up. Sasha and Serena were now in front of him and Serena had a serious look on her face.

  "Yea, we should get ready," Kolya replied.

  "What do you mean? Who's coming?" Sasha was still slightly confused. Her eyes still had signs of tears and beads of sweat were still running down her forehead.

  "You should prepare for combat," Serena answered, blowing some spores in her face as her vines brought their suit extensions out from the walls.

  Not letting them question what was happening, the vines forcibly attached the extensions, forcing their exosuits to automatically activate.

  With his extending to cover his head, Slava heard a voice resound in his ear.

  "The AITF should be here any minute now," Kolya said, lifting his arm to let his suit adjust itself. Slava hadn't noticed until now, but these suits seemed to constantly draw power from their tattoos, pulsing with red, purple, and white glows respectively. Those two really had prepared for everything.

  "What?" Sasha's voice carried some anger mixed in with some relief. It seemed like she was looking forward to venting her emotions.

  "There was no way the satellites wouldn't pick up on so many different signatures." Looking up, he pointed at the plant-filled sky. "And this sure doesn't help you know?" Slava could hear his smirk.

  "Wait, does that mean we'll actually get to fight?" Sasha said excitedly, letting the wings of her suit expand and retract. Right after she said those words, a notification appeared in Slava's vision.

[Weapon Systems Initialized!]

[Analysing User Combat Data…]

  Wait… He could’ve sworn he had no combat data in any of the systems… His surprise shifted when he looked to his side. Next to him, Sasha’s suit slithered around her arm, and as she extended it something began forming in the palm of her hand. Soon, she held a giant pitch-black double-edged spear almost twice her size. She immediately started spinning it around and when she did, its tips glowed a bright purple.

[Analysis Complete!]

  Seeing the message pop up in front of his eyes, he felt the suit constrict around him. Almost instinctively, his back and eyes lit up letting the energy flow through it. At the same time, he looked up. It felt like he had been reborn.

  When he felt the suit’s drain stabilize, he looked back down.

[Exosuit Parameters Reset!]

  Unlike Sasha's, his suit hadn't changed much. The only difference was that it looked thinner. His extensions were nowhere to be found. As he was about to try it out he heard Serena's voice echo around them.

  "They're here!" Somehow, she had disappeared from sight but he could still feel her presence. Feeling an odd spasm crawl down his spine, he looked up. Above him, the once luscious leaves were now rotting at a rapid rate.

  "Hope y'all are ready to have some fun," he heard Kolya grin. To his right, Sasha was still spinning her spear. The spear that had previously looked encumbering because of its size now looked like a part of her. As she spun it the tips which headed towards the ground, disappeared before they could strike it. They would reappear at other places out of thin air just like saws ready to cut anything and everything in their path.

  Kolya's suit on the other hand hadn't changed much, except now he was equipped with massive gauntlets that shone in a menacing glow.

  Feeling the sky's light reach him, Slava took a deep breath. As his back shone, he felt the suit slither organically over his skin. It was like a part of him now, he could feel it, like an extra organ he could control.