The sun's rays gently caressed Solis's sleeping body as it peaked over the horizon. Elise came out from her hiding place to wake up Solis so that they could go back to the hotel. It had taken her a while to muster up the courage to approach him because throughout the previous night she stayed awake from fear alone. She bent down and gently shook his shoulder. Solis wiggled around a little bit but failed to wake up.
Elise shook him a little harder and said his name, "Solis. Wake up, please?"
She backed away as Solis rolled onto his back and opened his eyes slowly. Turning his head to the left, he saw Elise standing above him. He promptly sat up and stretched his aching limbs, and took off his mask.
"Elise? Oh, that makes sense now," Solis said abruptly.
"What do you mean 'makes sense now?'" Elise questioned.
"I felt someone following me last night, but I wasn't in the right mood to care, and I'm assuming you know what I mean."
Elise went stiff and replied, "Y-yeah, I do. Look, I'm sorry Solis. I shouldn't have followed you, but I was worried about you since, last night, you didn't look like yourself."
"Your right, I wasn't. I feel a lot better now though so rest assured."
"Alright, if you say so."
"Come, we have to go meet up with the others now."
Solis stood up and walked to the edge of the plateau. He waited by it until Elise caught up to him. Solis then dropped down and started running across the desert, Elise followed him closely behind. Not much time passed as Solis and Elise found themselves back at 'The Vega' and entered the lobby. They went straight to the elevator and went to the floor where their suite was.
Both of them entered at the same time and saw that the rest of their group had woken up. Fera had extreme bed head, so did Lunis, Muun seemed to be in better spirits, and Ad was energetic as always.
"Solis, did you get up early? That's unusual for you."
"Something like that," he walked over and rubbed Ad's hair.
Ad batted his hand away and straightened his hair again. Solis walked over to Muun and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you better now Muun?"
"I am! Thank you so much Solis."
Muun hugged Solis tightly and the two held each other for a little bit before Solis let her go.
"After I finish changing, we'll go out and eat brunch."
He looked at the rest of his group as all of them nodded their heads in unison.
He went over to their room and locked the door to change. Fera, Muun, and Ad went back to their room and changed while Fera and Lunis stayed in the living room. Elise sat down on the sofa and Lunis took the chair next to the sofa. Elise let her head lay on the headrest of the sofa and sighed heavily.
"So, how'd it go?" Lunis asked Elise.
"I-...-it was scary...I almost regret going."
"I understand why you thought it was scary, it's not every day that you see Solis lose his cool, not a lot of things do."
"It's all right though, Elise, at least you weren't the poor soul he took his anger out on," Lunis continued.
"Wait you knew what he did?"
"I wasn't the only one who was half-asleep you know? After hearing my sister cry like that how could I sleep normally?" Lunis said with sadness behind her smile.
"So then you know what he did to that man?"
"No, I don't know what you mean by 'that man' but knowing Solis he found someone to let his anger out on. From what you said he did just that."
Lunis laid back in her own chair and said something under her breath that Elise couldn't quite catch.
"Did you say something Lunis?"
Lunis couldn't respond to her question as Solis came out of the room in his new set of clothes.
Looking over at Elise and Lunis, he said, "Sorry for making you wait, you guys should go change now. We'll wait for you guys in the lobby."
Just then, Fera, Ad, and Muun came out of their room. Solis turned his attention towards them and said, "Come you guys, we'll let these two finish changing while we wait downstairs."
Solis led them out the door and left Lunis with Elise. They both went into the room and changed. Elise was the first of the two to start their conversation.
"So, earlier... what were you saying to me?"
"Nothing important. It was just something about Tenacity," Lunis replied.
"Tenacity?" Elise stood there confused, "Is that someone you know?"
"Oh, I forgot we haven't told you why we're going to Arizona."
"Okay, so who's this 'Tenacity' then?"
Lunis slid her white long sleeve on over her head and looked at Elise, "It's Solis's cousin. He told us a few days ago that he had caught the scent of Tenacity and wanted to reunite with him."
Elise put on her jeans before she asked Lunis, "Woah, so the cousin of Solis? What's he like?"
"If I had to say... he's like the older version of Ad basically, but more mature and confident."
Elise was surprised by the statement given by Lunis.
"I was expecting his personality to be like Solis's," she replied back.
"You would think so. They couldn't be any farther apart in terms of personality but those two were attached at the hip growing up," Lunis explained and then continued on, "he may be Solis's cousin in blood, but it would be more appropriate to call Tenacity his twin."
"Those two went through everything together and you could never find Tenacity without Solis around him or vice versa," Lunis said with a smile.
Lunis's gleeful aura infected Elise and she started to smile too.
"So, who's older between the two of them?" Elise asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's Solis, since, Tencity's father was the younger brother of Solis's. The difference isn't much, only about ten months apart from each other."
"I see. Tenacity seems like a nice person, I can't wait to meet him then!"
Lunis let out another small chuckle, "Be careful Elise," Lunis told her, "Tenacity is a bit of a flirt."
"Wait what?" Elise said in shock.
"He knows the form he chose is considered 'handsome' by human standards and uses it to please himself."
In Elise's mind, her mental evaluation of Tenacity went down slightly.
After she put on the rest of her clothes, she told Lunis, "I'll be careful then."
"We'll see you downstairs then, Lunis."
Elise left Lunis alone to finish changing but it didn't take long for her to finish, and she caught up to Elise.
Solis had sat down on one of the Hotel's small, round couches while he watched his siblings and Muun marvel at the pool table. All throughout their time living in Florida, they had not once experienced or had seen a pool table. Fera asked around the lobby to see if anyone was willing enough to teach them the game but found no one willing. The three of them left the pool table alone as they took up the couch and sofa beside Solis.
"So?" Solis asked and looked at Fera.
"You saw how it went, no one wanted to teach us. You wouldn't happen to know would you, Solis?"
"Of course not," he let out a laugh, "I'm not the type to take interest in those sort of things."
Just then, the elevator doors opened and revealed Elise alongside Lunis.
Elise had kept her hair in the ponytail she usually wore, but also had on some blue hairpins. Her top was a blue blouse that greatly accentuated Elise's aura of maturity. She also wore a pair of denim jeans that hugged her mature figure. She also had on a pair of summer sandals with floral decorations throughout the sandal.
Lunis had her silky, blonde hair up in a ponytail, unlike the usual style where she let it hang down. She wore a beautiful white, long-sleeve top that went halfway down her abdomen and left some of it exposed. She wore a pair of black, ripped up pants that were frayed near her ankles. Finally, she had on a pair of sleek, black summer sandals.
All eyes were on them as they walked across the lobby over to Solis. They stopped in front of the four of them and stood silently.
Ad was the first to give a compliment, "Dang, Lunis you don't usually dress up. What's the occasion?"
"Nothing, I just decided to be flashy today," she shot Ad a smile.
"Elise how about you? Is there a reason you're looking nice today?" Fera asked.
"No, I just decided to look nice, like Lunis over here."
From out of nowhere, Solis said, "Seems unnecessary."
Elise looked at Solis in disappointment and told him, "What? For your info-"
Lunis cut in, "Relax, Elise, Solis isn't the type to understand the reason girls, like us, want to look nice."
"Yeah, apparently he doesn't," and made a pouting face.
Lunis laughed at Elise's funny expression and told her, "It's fine, just don't mind him."
"Come on guys we have a day to ourselves, so let's moving."
Lunis led the group as she started walking towards the exit of the lobby. Solis was left behind as he took a second to get up from the couch he sat in. He caught up to them shortly and tapped Elise on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier."
"You're fine, Solis," Elise told him without turning around.
"It's true that I don't understand the thought behind dressing nicely but I will say you and Lunis look pretty."
Elise didn't say anything, which confused Solis.
"Was that inappropriate?" He asked.
Elise still hadn't replied and, instead, sped up her pace.
In reality, Solis caused Elise to blush heavily at his compliment and was too embarrassed to turn around. A guy had never complimented her, so it caught her off guard especially since it came from Solis, who she didn't expect would say such a thing. She did feel bad for leaving him behind, but she would rather have that guilt than Solis look at her beet-red face.
Solis saw her speedily walk away but decided not to chase her. He just hoped he didn't do anything wrong and continued walking. He passed Elise, who hid her face from him, and went over to Lunis. He turned her around and began talking to her.
"Hey, Lunis, I'm going to go do something, so can you stay with them until I come back?"
"I will, but there are things I want to go do as well. Just know, I'll ditch that responsibility over to Fera if I feel the need to."
"Yeah, doesn't matter, just as long as all of you guys stay together."
"Then, sure, we can do that."
"Since you understand, I'll be going then," Solis tapped Lunis's shoulder and split off from them.
Everyone's eyes followed Solis as he increasingly got further away from them. Ad asked Lunis what he was doing and she explained it to him, who then told everyone else. None of them chased after him and they all continued walking in their own direction.
Solis had chosen to split from the group because he wanted a haircut. A very mundane reason but he felt the need to get one anyway. Lately, he felt that his hair was bothering him a lot more than usual since it had gotten long again. It was to the point that it had draped over his eyes which caused him to itch.
He walked around the city in search of people to ask for directions. It didn't take him long to find someone to help him. They chatted back and forth and when they finished, Solis gave the man his thanks and went on his way. It was about a five-minute walk to the barbershop he had been directed to, and just like the rest of the city, the shop was an impressive establishment.
It was a two-story building that took up ten hundred square feet of space. Two windows could be seen on the second story of the building as well as three on the first story of the building. Marvelous graffiti could be seen spread throughout its walls all, of which, varied in design. Some had wacky, cartoon-ish characters, while others had beautiful murals, what Solis assumed to be, famous people of Fortress City.
He entered through the doors and was greeted by a bald man who seemed to be in his late twenties.
"Good afternoon! How are you today, sir?" Greeted the bald man.
"I'm doing fine," replied Solis.
"Good to hear, I'm John, owner of this establishment. Take one of the empty seats and one of my employees would be happy to help out."
Solis took the seat closest to the back of the barbershop and sat down. Through his hair, he stared at his reflection while he sat in the chair.
From behind him, he heard, "Sorry for keeping you waiting."
"You're fine," Solis told the person behind him.
"Alright, so what would you like done today?"
"I just want my hair trimmed, is all."
"How much?"
"I think two inches sounds good."
The person behind him started straightening out his hair and showed him how much two inches was. Solis didn't realize how long his hair actually was, due to it being naturally curly and never straightened out, so he said an extra inch would be enough. They accepted Solis's request and began working.
Throughout the process, Solis had closed his eyes for it and just listened to the sound of the scissors as they cut through his hair. It was a simple operation that Solis had asked for and did not take long for the barber behind him to finish up their task. Once they finished, they asked Solis if they would like to do anything else.
"Is this all you'd like, sir?"
"Could I also get the sides of my head trimmed a bit too?"
"Alright, I'll get working on it."
They began trimming Solis's sides and, in no time at all, they finished.
"Now that I'm done with that, would you like it if we rinsed your head for you?"
Solis nodded and they brought over a sink in which they could rinse his hair. Solis bent his head back into the neck rest of the sink and they began washing. He felt the water soak his scalp and the person's fingers run through his hair. They diligently rinsed and cleaned him up. By the end of it, they had brought over a towel and dried his hair up. With his hair semi-dry, its natural waviness began to return and rest atop his head.
Once the whole process was done, Solis finally opened up his eyes. Above him, he saw who had attended to him in the half-hour he had been there.
It looked to be a woman in her early twenties and very well matured. She was a brunette with wavy hair that came down to her shoulders that also had blonde highlights strewn across it. It would be the first time that Solis had met eye to eye with the woman since his arrival there.
"I appreciate it ma'am."
Solis sat up straight again and felt some of the dew in his hair fall onto his face. He used the towel around his neck to wipe off his face.
Solis turned around and asked the woman, "How much was it?"
The woman appeared to be in a daze and didn't respond.
Solis tried again, "Excuse me, how much do I need to pay?" He lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Oh! Sorry, it'll be fifteen dollars, sir."
Solis quickly pulled out some cash and handed it to the lady. He turned around and went straight for the door, but was abruptly stopped.
The woman behind him turned him around and asked, "Before you go, could I ask you something?"
Solis was skeptical but saw no reason to turn her down, so he said, "Go ahead."
"U-umm, I was wondering...are...your eyes really that color?"
"Color?" Solis thought to himself. He looked over into the mirror and saw that his golden eyes were on full display. He didn't look at himself in the mirror so he often forgot that eyes, like his, were an anomaly among the humans.
He turned back at the woman and told her, "They are, now if you don't mind, I have somewhere I need to be."
Solis left the barbershop and left the woman in awe of his brilliant eyes.
Solis walked around the city with no specific goal other than to simply explore. He didn't want to go directly over to Lunis and them so he decided just to wander. The time to himself allowed him to think about events that could happen in the future, but there was one thing he was planning for. Once they got to Arizona, he would get to see Tenacity again, and the thought of it pleased him.
It had been so long since he had seen his best friend and he was excited to see him. In the back of his mind though he knew that their reunion would, most likely, not go smoothly. He knew he had to prepare for that outcome but overall, he was just wanted to make sure his cousin was safe.
As he kept walking around, Solis noticed a small gas station off to the side.
"Maybe I'll grab a little snack for myself, " he thought.
Solis changed direction and headed over to the gas station. Once inside he was greeted by the cashier and began looking at their shelves. As he walked through the isles, he bumped into someone behind him. He quickly apologized to them and went back to looking at the shelves. Solis had made his choice and went over to the cashier with a chocolate bar in hand.
The transaction was quick and, before he knew it, he headed towards the exit. What he didn't expect was to run into someone he knew on the way out.
"Elise? Where's everyone else?"
She turned to look at him but said something he didn't expect, "I don't know how you know my name, but I have something else I want to do, so excuse me."
She brushed past Solis and he stood there stunned. He walked over to her and turned her around.
"Elise, what's wrong? It's me, Solis."
"Solis?" She stood there and looked at the person she thought was a stranger before saying, "What?! That's you?!"
"I don't understand why you're so surprised," he told her.
"I-I didn't mean to talk rudely earlier, it's just that I couldn't recognize you!"
"I don't understand why you couldn't."
"Oh! That's why you split off from us?" She said abruptly.
"What do you mean?" Solis stood in confusion.
"I couldn't recognize you because I was so used to looking at you with longer hair. Now that it's short you look...different."
"Now that you mention it, it makes sense you couldn't recognize me."
"Now that I can see your face more clearly, it's not that bad, especially your eyes. I know that your siblings have the same eyes, it's just...yours seem different."
Elise looked closely at Solis and didn't realize he had been talking to her.
"What? You were saying something Solis?"
"I just wanted to tell you that I'll be waiting outside for you. It's time I regrouped with you guys so I thought I might as well walk with you."
"Yeah, sure that's fine," she replied.
She saw Solis turn around, walk through the doors, and stand off to the side. She redirected her attention to the cashier but she was having a hard time refocusing after realizing the not-so-bad-looking guy was Solis.
Elise talked to the cashier but wasn't paying full attention, so before she knew it, she was outside alongside Solis. He started walking as soon as Elise left and she followed him closely as the two of them headed out.
Elise felt awkward walking with Solis but when she looked over at him, he didn't seem to share the same feeling. His eyes darted from building to building and just took in his scenery. He admired the architecture of some buildings while also looking at the people doing their everyday activities.
Solis surprised Elise as she saw him start walking towards a person on the sidewalk, "What are you doing?" She asked.
"I need some directions," he continued walking over to the person without slowing down.
"Excuse me, sir, would you happen to know where I could get some colored contact lenses?"
The man looked up from his phone and at Solis, "Excuse me?" He told Solis.
Solis repeated what he had asked the man and he replied, "Oh, umm, I think there's a place called 'Ensemble' down the street that sells stuff like that."
"Thank you so much, sir," Solis gave a small bow and walked away.
Elise ran to his side and asked him, "Wait, why do you need contacts?"
He looked down at her and said, "Because you made it apparent that our eyes gather too much attention."
It took them a few minutes to find Ensemble but when they did, they went into the store and immediately searched for the lenses. They split up with Solis searching through one section while Elise searched another. They met back up near the register and in Solis's hand were six pairs of lenses, all of which was a deep, black color.
"Why six?" Elise pointed down toward his hands.
"I'm getting one for Tenacity too, he has unique eyes as well."
They walked up to the cashier and bought all six. After their purchase, they went back outside and began walking again. Solis took out one of the contacts and opened it.
"Elise, could you hold the bag for me for a little bit?"
She took the bag while she watched Solis open the package. He tilted his head backward and inserted a contact into his left eye.
He looked over at Elise and asked her, "Does it look all right?"
To Elise, it was weird seeing the golden eye of Solis being covered, and honestly, she was saddened over its disappearance.
Reluctantly, she told him, "Yeah, it's fine."
"You make it sound like it doesn't."
"It's just... nevermind just trust me, Solis. It looks fine, all right?"
"I'll take your word for it then."
Solis took out the other pair and put it into his right eyes. He blinked a few times before he looked over at Elise. His overall appearance seemed a lot dimmer now that his golden eyes were covered. Looking at him like that, Elise had a feeling of disappointment she didn't quite understand
"Alright, let's go find the rest of them. Elise, do you remember where Lunis told you they'd be?"
"I remember, just follow me."
Elise took a left turn at a nearby intersection and from there, Solis followed her until they met up again with the rest of their group.
At first, everyone had a hard time recognizing Solis but when they did, they relaxed.
"Here put these on," he proceeded to hand all of them a pair of contact lenses.
"What are these?" Muun asked Solis.
"They're something that covers our eyes or you could say it disguises them."
"Why would we need to hide our eyes?" Muun pressed further.
"It's so that those who are looking for us will have a harder time finding us."
"Oh, that makes sense. How do I put them in then?" Muun fiddled with the lenses in her hands.
"Like this," Lunis came over and showed her sister how to do it.
Muun watched her intently, and when Lunis finished she did the same thing. After blinking a few times, Muun opened her eyes back up and looked at everyone around her.
"It looks good Muun," Ad complimented her.
"Come on, Ad, we need to do the same," Fera commanded her brother.
Both of them took out their contacts and placed them in their eyes.
After Ad put in his, he said, "Ahh jeez, these things are kind of itchy."
"Don't rub them your eyes when you have contacts in. I hear if you do it could damage your eyes," Elise warned him.
"Ehh I'm not worried," Ad replied nonchalantly.
He began rubbing them and sighed in relief. When he opened his eyes again they were all red.
Elise gasped and ran over to Ad, "I told you! Why didn't you listen?!"
"It's okay, just back away from him Elise," Solis told her.
He pulled her away from Ad and she saw a faint sky, blue mist shroud Ad's eyes. After he blinked, the mist disappeared and his eyes were normal again.
"You guys have the ability to do that?!" Elise looked up at Solis.
"We do, it's easy to pull off. All of us here could do it," he replied.
"Is that so? It appears my grandmother didn't tell me enough about you guys," Elise told Solis.
"She didn't but I'm sure you'll know more about us as we continue on," Ad said.
All of them took the time to readjust their contacts if they felt uncomfortable. When they finished, they turned to Elise and asked her if they all looked fine. For Elise, it was a strange thing to look at.
Arguably, no, definitely the color of each of their eyes added a sort of mystical appearance to them and now that they had hidden them, they all seemed dull, like how Elise saw Solis when he first put on his contacts. She gave them a small nod and they all seemed satisfied with her response. They threw away all their trash before walking again.
All six of them spent the rest of the afternoon doing leisurely things, while Solis usually stayed behind or just spectated whatever they were doing. Soon enough, the night lights of the city turned on, even though it was only seven and the sun hadn't completely gone beneath the horizon, which prompted them to start heading back to the Vega.
On their way back, Ad asked Solis if they could grab dinner before they went back. Solis agreed but told Ad it was his responsibility to find a place to eat. He didn't mind and immediately began searching. A minute later, he led the rest of them to the eatery he thought was good.
The name of the place was called Cliffside Paradise, which Solis thought to be a unique name, and served a mediterranean-style menu. Solis wasn't the biggest fan of that diet but just as long as they could accommodate for big portions, he didn't mind. All of them entered through the doors and were hit with the pungent aroma of spices.
The process was quick and easy, they ordered their food, found a table, said their thanks, and scarfed down their food all while onlookers marveled at them and their voracious appetite. With their plates cleaned, literally, they left and went back toward the Vega. As they walked through the streets, they witnessed as people started coming from their homes in suits and dresses.
"Are they coming out to party?" Ad asked his brother.
"Yeah, it seems to be the norm here in Fortress. They did it last night too."
"Something seems off about them though," Ad added.
"What do you mean?" Solis asked.
"You can't tell me you don't feel it, Solis, because if I can, I know you can. They have the lingering stench of fear."
"I did smell it, but I didn't think it was something serious enough to tell you guys."
As they talked they overheard the couple that passed by them say something, "Babe, I hope that scary monster doesn't come out again tonight."
"It's okay, Melanie, it was just a strange noise. It doesn't mean there was actually a 'monster' you know?" The man hugged his girlfriend tightly.
Ad looked over at Solis as if to say, "See? I told you so."
"It could mean anything, Ad. In the end, it doesn't matter let's just stop discussing this and continue walking." Solis sped up and forced everyone else to keep up with him.
It wasn't long before they were in their suite once again. The eldest ladies, Lunis and Elise, told everyone that they would take the showers first. Everyone else either sat down and relaxed or found something to entertain themselves with. Solis was on the sofa, once again, looking out the window and down at the city. Muun took a spot beside him and that situation reminded him of what happened the night before, which he hoped wouldn't happen again.
Luckily for him, it wouldn't, and instead, was just Muun being Muun. Ad came over and leaned on Solis's head. He didn't mind but Ad was kind of heavy so his neck hurt a little.
He heard his brother ask him a question, "Why do you like sitting down and just staring into nowhere? I don't understand why you do it."
"I just do, Ad, stop asking stupid questions," and he poked Ad in his side.
Ad flinched and lightly smacked the top of Solis's head as he went over to a different couch to watch some television.
"And he says he doesn't understand why I just like sitting down. I don't understand why he sits down and just watches the television."
Solis looked down and saw that Muun was giggling.
"What's funny?" He asked her.
"You both like doing things the other finds boring. It just shows how much you guys are brothers," Muun told him.
"Well, I also don't understand how you can be so nice when Lunis can be so rough. It's almost like you're NOT sisters," he smiled and ruffled Muun's hair.
She forcefully tore away Solis's hand from her head and fixed up her hair. Solis let his arms rest again on his lap as he turned his head back toward the window. Muun leaned up against Solis and the both of them resumed watching the people of Fortress begin their nightlife.
"Hey, Solis?" Muun asked softly.
"Yes, Muun?"
"I know what happened last night and it scared me, so please don't go doing it again," she softly told Solis.
Solis felt her grip on his arm tighten, so he reassured her by saying, "I apologize, I won't do it anymore then," and patted her head.
Solis heard the bathroom doors open and saw Lunis come out in a new set of clothes. She was wiping off strands of her wet hair as she walked over to them.
"Watcha two doing?" She asked
"Just relaxing, I guess," replied Solis.
"Can I join you as well?"
"Yeah, just go ahead."
Lunis sat down beside Solis and laid her head up against his right shoulder.
"Hey, your hair is still wet, dry it off first," complained Solis.
"Relax, it's just water."
Solis lifted Lunis's head up and placed her towel on his shoulder and told her, "Now, you can lay on my shoulder."
"You're so petty, Solis."
"I'm not, I just don't want my shoulder to be wet while the rest of me is dry."
"See? That's being petty," and Lunis started giggling.
"Shut up, Lunis," then Solis pinched Lunis's side.
She screamed and retaliated by pinching his side. Their commotion caused Muun to step in.
"Hey! Take it somewhere else, I want to enjoy the scenery right now."
"Sorry, Muun, that was our fault. We'll stop," Lunis reached over and rubbed her little sister's head.
"Ahhh, Solis did this earlier, I don't want you messing up my hair too, Lunis!"
Muun focused on fixing her hair again while Solis and Lunis laughed.
Lunis leaned back onto Solis's shoulder and all of them went quiet. They heard whatever Ad was watching going on behind them while they looked through the window. They sat there for a few minutes when Lunis spoke up.
"Solis, I can't wait to see Tenacity again."
"Me too, Lunis. Let's hope he's okay by the time we see him."
From behind them, they heard Elise's voice, "Hey! We're done using the showers, whoever needs it can have it!"
Fera got up from one of the chairs she sat on and hopped into the bathroom. Elise walked over to the kitchen's fridge and brought out a bottle of water for herself. She turned around and saw three figures sitting on the same sofa looking out the window.
"Oh, getting intimate are we?" teased Elise as she walked over to the three of them.
Solis was the only one who looked at Elise because the two ladies beside him had fallen asleep.
Solis's responded to Elise by saying, "No, we're not. We would never be."
"I know, it's just a joke," and Elise took another sip of her water.
Solis turned to Elise and asked, "Do you have all your stuff ready? We're leaving early so it's best that you go to sleep now."
"Really? What time exactly?"
"At five," he said.
"Five?! Why?"
"This is our last drive to Arizona, I don't want any more stopovers. We need to be there as soon as we can."
"O-okay, I'll go to sleep then, good night, Solis."
"Yeah, you too."
Elise left him alone while she went into their room.
Solis woke up Lunis to ask her, "Hey, Lunis, do you want to sleep with Muun or head over to our room?"
Lunis didn't move from her spot, instead, she brought Muun up to her chest and cuddled her.
"Alright, good night then," Solis grabbed the blanket from the top of the sofa and put it over the sisters.
On his way to his room, he stopped by Fera, "Fera it's best we go to bed now, we're leaving early tomorrow," he told her.
While she walked away, she asked, "Want me to tell Ad?"
"Yeah, go ahead," replied Solis.
"Hey, Ad! Don't take too long we need to go to bed now!"
"I won't!" He shouted from the bathroom.
Solis saw his sister head over to her room and told her, "Good night, Fera, I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"You too, Solis," and Fera shut the door.
Solis decided it was time for him to sleep as well, but before he did, he dimmed the lights in the living room. As he went inside, he saw a sight he didn't expect would happen in his lifetime.
"Black? Very mature choice of color, Elise."
What he referred to was the sight of Elise holding out her bra beneath the moonlight.
Elise's face grew dark and she tossed a pillow at Solis. He easily caught it and said, "Sorry for not knocking, I'll leave now and let you finish."
Solis tossed the pillow back onto her bed and turned to leave. Behind him, he felt a killer intent and immediately dodged to the left. He saw Elise's fist fly by and he caught it.
"Hey, I apologized. I know it was my fault so there's no need for this alright? Besides, your shirt is sagging, I can see your breasts."
"Wha--?!"
Elise blushed heavily and looked down at her chest but saw that her shirt wasn't sagging. Solis lied to her and used the opening to slip away and shut the door.
"Rgggghh! Solis!" She shouted through the door.
From the other side, Solis replied, "Hey, keep it down, Lunis and Muun are sleeping you know."
Elise returned to her bed in a fury and finished putting her bra away. She turned around and went back toward the door.
"Solis! I'm done, you can come back in."
"Excuse me then," he said as he opened the door.
He took a second to stare at Elise. This caused her to blush so she asked him, "What is it? Quit staring at me and go to bed weirdo."
"Sure thing, Ms. Black-Lace," Solis laughed slightly.
"Don't make me hit you," Elise warned.
Solis walked over to the pull-out bed laughing. He ceased his laughter after a minute passed and started changing. With his back bare, Elise saw his birthmark once again.
She slowly approached Solis. He stood up straight and without turning around asked, "Do you want to touch it?"
Elise froze up, "H-how did you know?"
He replied simply, "I just do."
"Well, then, can I?"
"Go ahead."
It felt like porcelain and just by touching it, Elise felt oddly energized. She continued tracing the shape of his birthmark but then went onto feeling his scars. Shivers went down her spine as she felt the difference in the texture. She went along each scar and felt the experience each one contained. Some she could feel were proud moments in Solis's life while others had such dark emotions buried in them that she was afraid to continue touching them. After a minute, she backed away from him.
Solis put on his shirt and turned around. She looked up at him and the two locked eyes. No words were exchanged between them but Elise felt she understood Solis more.
Solis broke eye contact first and told Elise, "I'll be going to bed now, good night, Elise."
He proceeded to lay down on his bed and cover himself, partially, in his blankets. Elise stayed there and looked at Solis's back as it moved up and down with each breath he took.
"Solis?" Elise asked.
She bent down and tried shaking him.
"He's already asleep?" Elise thought to herself.
Since he was asleep, Elise knew it would be useless trying to wake him up so she went over to her bed and closed her eyes.
"Hey, Elise," were the words she heard as her eyes slowly opened.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes, "What time is it, Solis?" she asked.
"It's four-thirty right now."
She groaned and said, "I hate how early we have to leave."
She forced herself to get out of her bed and told Solis, "Leave, I'm going to change now."
He did and left her to change.
The next ten minutes Solis spent by waking everyone up, usually accompanied by complaints, and told each of them to prepare. It didn't take long for everyone to all meet up in the living with their bags in tow.
"I hope none of you forgot something important because we'll be leaving now," Solis told his group.
He was the first to leave their suite and, sure enough, everyone followed him closely. The lobby was empty as they made their way over to the poor soul who was working at that hour of the day. Solis chatted with the man for a bit and when they left, he gave the man a two-hundred-dollar tip. He was very reluctant, at first, but Solis left him before he could complain.
They walked over to where Lunis put their car and hopped in. Solis took the wheel again while everyone else fell asleep in their seats. Their trip would be another long one, totaling about eleven hours, and Solis wanted no stops this time.
Luckily, for Solis and his group, during those eleven hours, they hadn't encountered any enemies and were able to arrive safely. The only stopover they made was for lunch and that was it. It was a little past four, in the afternoon, when they arrived.
They were still driving through the city when Ad asked Solis, who was the one driving again, "I knew we were coming to Arizona, but why this city, Solis?"
"Tenacity's smell is strongest here," he replied.
"How come I can never smell what you smell, Solis? It's unfair," Ad whined.
"It's okay, Ad, it's just because I'm older and more developed than you. You'll be like me soon don't worry," Solis reassured his brother.
Ad turned to his sister and asked, "Fera, can you smell what Solis smells?"
She looked up from her book and told him, "I think? I don't know for sure. I can smell something, but I don't know if it's Tenacity."
"Really? Okay then," then Ad sat back in his seat.
A few more minutes of driving later, Solis and his group found themselves at a highschool.
"Solis...I'd ask what we're doing here, but I already know why. Honestly, I'm really excited," Ad told his brother.
"Solis, make sure we're not being suspicious," Lunis said.
"I was already on it."
They walked into the expansive high school as Solis let out a light smoke that surrounded them.
When he finished, he said, "We're good now."
"Where are we looking first, Solis?" Fera asked.
"I was going to ask the office, so you guys wait here."
They did as they were told and Solis left to go find the office. Once he did he walked up to the secretary.
"Excuse me, miss, are remedial classes still going on?"
She looked up from her pile of papers and responded, "You're asking this late?"
"I apologize, I was at home doing some other homework and I came back so that I could get some more help."
"Well they're ending soon, so you better get going. You know where they're having it today right?"
"I do. I appreciate your help."
Solis went back over to his group where he was met with some questions.
"What'd you discuss with her?" Lunis asked.
"Remedial classes," he said.
Elise stood there confused so she asked Solis, "What? What for?"
Solis turned to Elise, "My cousin hasn't always been the brightest, so I figured he'd be the type of 'student' who needed help. He's not dumb either it's just...thinking outside of fighting was never his forte."
Elise saw Lunis nod her head in agreement with what he said.
"Anyways, let's get going. His smell is getting stronger by the second."
Solis began walking while everyone followed his lead. They walked around for a bit passing by a few classes until they found one where a teacher could be heard giving a lecture.
Solis stopped his group and said, "Alright, wait here until they finish, I'm going in."
"What? Why just you?" Ad complained.
"Because I look like a high school student, Ad, you don't."
When Solis told him the blatant reason he could go in he replied, "O-oh yeah, oops."
Solis proceeded toward the classroom as his group stood and watched.
Elise looked over at Lunis and asked, "You're not going?"
Lunis turned to Elise with a soft expression and said, "No, I want Solis to have his moment with Tenacity. It's been so long since he's seen him after all."
"Doesn't that go the same for you?" Elise asked.
"It's true but you couldn't imagine the pain Solis went through when he was separated from Tenacity. They were two sides of the same coin, so when Solis thought he lost Tenacity he wasn't the same."
"This moment belongs to those two, so just let it be," Lunis continued.
They all went back to watch Solis as he entered the classroom.
Inside there weren't many students. There were enough desks for thirty students, but only ten were filled. There were more boys than girls in the class and one of them Solis recognized. His heart started racing and he felt like a little kid again.
The one he was there for turned around, with a smile, and said, "There you are, I've been waiting for you."
He started tearing up but not before the teacher addressed his presence.
"Excuse me, sir, are you here for class?"
"I-I am," answered Solis.
"Why show up when classes are about to end?" The teacher continued.
Solis wiped away a tear before he said, "Because I thought I could use some more help after I finished some of my homework."
"Good, then find a seat."
Solis took the desk near Tenacity and asked him, "Want to get out of here?"
His cousin smiled and said, "Nah, I've been a good student here, don't let me mess up my record."
"Idiot, I'll sit here with you until it ends then."
Half an hour later, Solis and Tenacity emerged from the room at the same time. Lunis immediately burst into tears and so did Fera, Ad, and Muun. Lunis ran over to Tenacity and hugged him tightly.
With her face buried in his chest, she said, "I-I've missed y-you."
Tenacity stroked her head and responded, "Me too."
Ad, who decided to go in anyway, Fera, and Muun stood in place while they tried wiping away their tears. Elise stood there while she watched the people around her cry. Solis walked back over to Elise and she saw that he was red around the eyes too.
Elise looked closely at Tenacity Arcana and complimented him, "H-he's impressive isn't he?"
"He chose a more flamboyant form than I did," Solis replied.
Tenacity Arcana...he was a massive figure of six-foot-two in height. His frame was much more muscular, compared to Solis, and very well toned. He had short, brown hair with chiseled facial features. He too shared the glamourous brown skin Solis had while also looking as smooth as Solis's. Most of all, he shared the defining characteristic in Solis's family. His eyes were the beautiful gold that Elise had missed looking at. Looking at him closely, it was hard not for Elise's heart to skip a beat.
What she witnessed next would surprise her as Lunis shared an intense kiss, filled with emotion, with Tenacity.
In a daze, she looked over at and before she got to say anything, he said, "It is as you see it. Lunis and my cousin are a couple."
Elise looked back at the two and felt oddly jealous that such a handsome guy already had a girlfriend. She wasn't looking for love at the moment but she couldn't help but feel that way.
After their lips left each other, Fera, Ad, and Muun all embraced Tenacity. He hugged all of them in his massive arms as all of them shed tears. The rest of the students from the class had also appeared behind them and witnessed Tenacity crying.
"What's up Tenacity?" One of the girls from the class asked him.
Tenacity sniffled and told her, "They're my family that I haven't seen in a while. They surprised me today and because of that, has me all teary eyes."
"Oh, then yay for your reunion," said the girl.
She also bent down and whispered in Tenacity's ear, "By the way, who's the guy with black hair standing over there? He's kind of cute."
"Oh him? He's my cousin."
"You think you could introduce us real quick?"
Tenacity let out a laugh.
"What is it?" The girl demanded.
"You don't want to talk with him, but if you insist."
Tenacity left Fera, Ad, and Muun and walked over to Solis. Tenacity called out to him and quickly caught his attention.
"Aurelios, I have a classmate who would like to meet you."
The girl beside him held out her hand and introduced herself, "H-hi there, I'm Beatrice, Tenacity's classmate."
Solis shook her hand and introduced himself as well, "I'm Solis, my cousin calls me Aurelios, but don't mind that. As you know I'm Tenacity's cousin."
Elise was beside him as she witnessed the two converse.
"So, Solis, are you in a relationship with anyone at the moment?" Beatrice asked bluntly.
"Relationship? No, not at the moment."
"Then, how about--"
"No, thank you," Solis interrupted her.
"Wait, what? I haven't even finished."
"I'm not interested, and I'm sorry to say, I'm not looking for it right now," Solis gave her a small bow.
"Wait! Let me at least ask you out sometime?" She pleaded.
Solis ignored her and looked up at Tenacity, "I'll be waiting in the parking lot outside if you need me."
"You want to leave already, Aurelios?" Tenacity questioned.
"Yeah, just don't mind me. Besides, there's something I need to discuss with you after."
Solis began walking and Elise decided to follow him.
As they walked further away, Beatrice, looked up at Tenacity. In turn, he looked down at her.
"Your cousin is a jerk!" She yelled.
Tenacity let out another laugh before saying, "Cut him some slack, he just gets nervous when talking to pretty women."
Beatrice blushed and held her cheeks as she said, "Oh, so that's it? Well if you say so, Tenacity."
Tenacity laughed again and turned around.
"Alright guys, I say we go home now. We don't want to make Solis mad."
Everyone else nodded in unison and followed Tenacity as he walked toward the exit of the school. He waved to his classmates as all of them left.
Ahead of them, Elise and Solis had a little conversation.
"That was kind of mean, Solis," she said as they walked.
"Was it?" He asked her.
"It sounded like it."
"It wasn't my intention to. I just told her what I really felt is all. If it helps, I tried not to sound hurtful."
Elise continued asking him a few more questions, "Did you at least think she was pretty, Solis?"
Solis took a second to ponder her question.
"Kind of, she was certainly cute though."
"Wow, look at you! I didn't realize you had a heart," she said as she punched his arm.
"For your information, I do. I even complimented you remember? But you're the one who walked away from me. To me it sounds more like YOU don't have a heart," he teased.
Having been reminded of the embarrassing situation, she blushed again and turned away.
"Y-yeah, I'm sorry for doing that."
Solis continued to talk, "Anyway, at the end of the day, I'm not searching for a relationship right now. I see no need for it."
"How about in the future?" Elise wondered.
Solis thought about it for a second and said, "Maybe, who knows."
They walked back to the parking lot without exchanging any more words.
Not long after they arrived, Solis saw Tenacity and the rest of his group emerge from the school.
They all walked over to Solis and he asked them, "I'm assuming all of you want to ride with Tenacity?"
They nodded and Solis looked over at his cousin, "Alright, so I'm assuming you have a car then?"
"Of course I do," replied Tenacity.
"Then we'll follow you home, which I'm assuming, you have as well."
Tenacity gave him a smile, "Yes, that too, Aurelios."
"Hey hey, it's not Aurelios that I go by down here. It's Solis, so call me that from now on, Tenacity."
"Oh, you decided to use the name your parents gave you instead of your Title? That's a surprise but I'll go along with it."
"It is what it is. We should get going now though so lead the way, Tenacity."
Tenacity nodded and asked everyone to follow him. Solis and Elise were left alone and were the only ones in Solis's car. Elise hopped in the passenger seat as Solis hopped in the driver's seat and waited for Tenacity's car to begin moving. They watched as he approached a white sedan and got in. Moments later, his car pulled out and started moving. Solis subsequently followed Tenacity.
They had been driving around eight minutes when Solis saw Tenacity start to slow down. He took a right at an intersection and continued for half a mile then turned right again into a neighborhood. Then, they came upon an all-white, two-story house. From the outside, it looked to be quite spacious and accommodating. Tenacity took his car and pulled it onto the driveway as Solis did the same thing.
Solis saw everyone get out of Tenacity's car and asked for Elise to follow him out as well. The door to his house swung open and they were met with an extremely bland interior. There wasn't much furniture nor was there any television, which Solis was actually happy about, but it made sense considering Tenacity lived by himself up until that point. Tenacity gave them a quick house tour and showed them the room they could sleep in. Out of the three bedrooms he had, the two he had upstairs would be occupied by the Alexandrias in one while the other would have Fera and Ad.
The one downstairs belonged to Elise while Solis and Tenacity would take the couches to sleep on. She was confused at the arrangement and couldn't help but ask.
"Wait, why am I alone?"
Tenacity looked at her and said, "You're a young lady, I thought I'd be nice and let you have your privacy. I'm sorry we haven't formally met, I'm Tenacity Arcana," and he held out his hand.
"Oh I'm Elise Malchemi," she shook his hand and told him everything about her.
"Okay, so you're a mage sent here by Eliza? I'm surprised she's still alive," Tenacity looked over at Solis who just gave him a shrug.
"Anyway, it's more of a reason to give you your own privacy. Besides, it's not like Solis and I mind being on a couch."
"I'll let everyone settle in while Solis and I talk for a bit."
Tenacity looked over at him and Solis started toward the door. Once outside, Solis turned back around at Tenacity.
"Hey, Tenacity, you see that mesa over there?" Solis pointed to a mesa behind the house off in the distance.
"I do, it looks to be about three miles away, why do you ask?"
"Don't play dumb, you know exactly why I'm asking," Solis gave him a mischievous grin.
"I do, I was just joking."
The two of them walked toward the back of the house.
"What do we use as a start then, Solis?" Tenacity asked him.
Solis pointed at a shaky leaf on a dying plant and said, "When that leaf touches the ground we go."
Tenacity scoffed and said, "Alright then, let's see if you've kept up all these years."
"I'm more worried about you, Tenacity," then Solis lined himself with Tenacity.
They crouched down into a running position and watched the shaky leaf intently. They watched as it broke off from its stem and fall toward the ground. As it neared the ground, they both tensed up. When it did, Solis and Tenacity were off. They left a huge shockwave as both of them beelined it toward the mesa. They crossed the expanse in a second and the winner was quickly decided. Solis had touched the base of the mesa first before his cousin.
Solis let out a boastful laugh and told Tenacity, "Hah! You still can't beat me when it comes to speed. Keep working on it though, Tenacity."
"Shut it, Solis, I just haven't warmed up yet."
"Whatever you say. Besides, just racing you isn't the reason I asked you to come here."
Solis turned to face the mesa and leaped onto the top of it. Tenacity followed suit and met him on top.
"Sit down, Tenacity, it's time we do a bit of sparring. It's been a long time since we've fought."
"It has, hasn't it? Not since we were younger," Tenacity agreed.
"Exactly, both you and I know we're stronger now. I want to see exactly just how strong you are."
"What a coincidence, me too."
Solis and Tenacity sat cross-legged from each other and closed their eyes. They began opening up their minds and allowed one another to interact with their consciousness.
What these two were doing was a method their race used to train without destroying the environment. By opening their minds, they could create a mental field where both of their consciousnesses could take form, usually in the form of their own body, and could fight with one another.
Solis Arcana versus Tenacity Arcana, two of the strongest fighters in their family will face each other for the first time after many millennia. A fight that was sure to amaze anyone who watched.