Gifted

As the three brothers continued their quest to locate Scott's soul and save it, strangely, the three of them ended up at the same exact location as each other, even when they parted ways in different directions.

"So, I guess, everything leads up to here" Jordan said, when he saw his brothers heading his way. Being the first one to arrive, Jordan felt an ominous feeling coming out of the forest in front of him. It was strong, yet it felt guarded.

The forest in front of him is the complete opposite of what he'd seen so far. Lush and full of life, are the only words that Jordan could explain it. He could feel a strong energy flow in the forest, as if it was alive. When he tried to enter the forest, the trees and plants actually attacked him, as if fending itself from trespassers.

"How are things?" June asked, the moment he landed on the ground. Before landing, June tucked his body and gracefully did a roll midair. While doing so, his wings enveloped his whole body, before it transformed into a white flowing cape-like fabric attached to his spaulder.

"This must have been the place where Scott's soul is." Jordan answered with a calm tone, before facing his brother once again and asked with an intrigued and amazed voice "When did you learn to do stuff like that?"

"Dunno actually, kinda just happened I guess" June said with a slight shrug. He was amazed himself that he could do stuff like making his wings turn into a cape-ish fabric. Not only did it looked cool but it was convenient as well.

"Hey guys" Andrew greeted, upon landing on the ground. When his wings folded, it turned into a beautiful long scarf, tied around his neck and flowed on his back.

Upon Andrew's arrival, June and Jordan were startled when they saw his entourage.

Seeing the silent question in his brother's faces, Andrew swiftly introduced his loyal knights.

"Oh, guys, I want you to meet my loyal knights. The one in the middle is Valen, the one on his right is Arctic and the one on the left is Lorelei. My loyal knights, meet my bothers; June and Jordan."

"We pay our humble respects to our ruler's family!" The three knights said in unison, as they bowed their heads towards June and Jordan.

Seeing June and Jordan's hanging jaws, Andrew gave them a cheeky smile, while playfully wiggling his eyebrows.

Being snapped back by Andrew's playfulness, June and Jordan shook their heads with a helpless smile in their faces. Who would've thought that Andrew will have a group of loyal knights at his beck and call. With the loyal knights in the picture, Andrew truly looked like a bonafide monarch.

"Isn't he a little too OP?" June and Jordan thought to themselves.

"Anyways, this is likely the place where Scott's soul is. Should we just go ahead?" Jordan said before asking his brothers' thoughts on the matter.

"I don't feel good about this place. I think we should stay together, just in case" June said. Although with their current strength, they might be able to defeat anything in their way, but in the back of his mind, a feeling kept telling him that splitting up might not be a good idea.

"Yeah, I think we should stay together too. This place gives me the creeps." Andrew said in agreement, as a chill ran through his spine, making him shiver.

"Then it's decided, but be careful guys. I tried going in earlier but it seemed like the place doesn't want trespassers to enter." Jordan warned, before unsheathing his sword.

The blade of Jordan's katana began oozing a very eerie and unsettling aura, that when Jordan entered the forest once again, it was like the trees and plant that blocked him earlier, are now cowering in fear.

Once Jordan entered the forest, June and Andrew followed closely behind him. Andrew's knights transformed into crystal butterflies, so that they won't catch to much unwanted attention with their numbers. Andrew's knights flew and circled his body in protection, to prevent any harm that might befall on him.

The three brothers kept a steady pace as they continued to venture deeper in to the quiet forest. It was strange that they still haven't encountered anything yet, but the constant feeling of being watched was always present.

It wasn't long before the brothers reached the heart of the forest, which looked like a ruins of an old temple. The structures that were still intact were still beautiful and artistic, that if the temple was to be in its full glory, it would've been undeniably stunning and aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.

Above the temple is a swirling mass of black clouds. And at the center of it, is a pillar of dark energy, where Scott's soul might be.

Minus the creepy dark clouds and energy, June marveled at the temple's architecture with sparkling eyes. As someone who really appreciates architecture, both from the present and it the past, June felt like he was a little kid, brought to a candy store.

Getting closer to the temple, the three brothers didn't notice the strange symbols on the ground, that when the stepped passed it, the ground suddenly started to rumble.

"What in the world is going to happened now?!" Andrew said with a slight frustration in his voice. Andrew was never the surprise kind of person, so when surprises are being made, you can bet that his stress level are going through the roof, even if the surprise is for him.

The rubbles of the torn down temple suddenly shot up into the air and began combining itself together like a one giant leggo set. Once completed, what stood in front of the brothers is a three storey high, five to six meters wide, and fifteen meters long centaur, made out of stone. A green misty energy flowed across its body, keeping its body together. Moss, tree branches, and vines decorated its whole body, making it look ethereal, rather than menacing. Its eyes glowed bright green, while on its hand is a very long and very big halberd. At the center of the centaur's c.h.e.s.t is a glowing green gem, pulsing with life.

"This is bad news!" Jordan said through gritted teeth, as an he never expected for this to happened.

"Why?!" June asked with a slightly worried tone in his voice.

The centaur looked and felt powerful but June has the confidence that the three of them could defeat it.

"That thing is Scott's soul guardian, which means exactly just that, it guards Scott's soul." Jordan explained

"That's great! Then it means that Scott's soul is not too far from here. All we gotta do is beat that thing up, so we can find Scott's soul." Andrew said with a cheerful tone in his voice

"It's not that simple. Remember, when I told you guys to be careful with going all out, as it might cause a side effect on Scott's soul?"

"Uhhh... Yeah" Andrew nodded with a confused frown on his face.

"Well, beating that thing up will cause a major side effect on Scott's soul. If we kill that thing, I can't even begin to imagine the damage it would do to Scott. The damage might be so severe that it might lead to his death. So, killing it is absolutely off the table" Jordan explained further with deep regret. He felt infuriated at himself for not even considering Scott to have a soul guardian. Antara has told him that not everyone has a soul guardian, as only a soul who is strong enough is capable of having one.

Scott is a Guild master, so obviously there is definitely a high chance that Scott will have a soul guardian. Jordan wanted to smack himself for being so careless, as this major obstacle has really threw a wrench into their, otherwise, smooth sailing plan.

"Okay, so all we have to do is keep that thing's attention on us, so you can go and find Scott's soul" June said with a soothing and calming voice. When June noticed Jordan beginning to get agitated, he knew that he had to be the voice of reason for both of his brothers, for them to calm down.

"But-"

"No buts! Andrew and I believe in you, so you leave this thing to us and go find Scott's soul, because you are the only one who can help him." June told Jordan with an encouraging smile on his face. He knew that Jordan is beating himself up hard, for forgetting to mention something so important; but in times like this, for June, it's better to move pass some minor mistake and keep moving forward, without pointing the blame on who's who. June believes that everyone makes mistakes but all deserves second chances.

"Okay" Jordan said with a low voice, as he nodded his head, but his face was still full of guilt.

"Hey Jor, don't sweat about it too much, kay? We are not blaming you for this little set back, and how we treat you will never ever change. We love you and will continue loving you, because you are our family, remember that!" Andrew told Jordan with a big brotherly smile on his face, causing Jordan's mood to finally lift up.

"Thanks bro! Love you both!" Jordan said, as his usual boyish cheeky smile appeared back on his face.

"Love you too! Now go, because that thing might not be a patient one" Andrew said.

"You really did good back there" June said to Andrew, proudly

"You're forgetting who I am. I royalty, remember?" Andrew said flamboyantly, causing June to chuckle and shake his head in an helpless manner.

"God, I love my brothers!" June though to himself, as his heart felt like it's going to burst because of its fullness.

When June saw that Jordan was about to pass the threshold, he sprinted towards the guardian at full speed, so that the guardian's attention will stay on him.

Successfully keeping the guardian's attention, June did a 360 dive into the air. As his body twisted mid-air, his cape swooshed around him before it transformed back into his wings once again.

"What?! No fair! I want to do that too!" Andrew shouted at the injustice of not being able to look and transform as cool as his brother.

"You already got your knights, leave some for the rest of us, would ya." June responded with a laugh, before he returned his attention back to the soul guardian and turned serious once again.

As June zipped through the air, with a burst of golden flames, he summoned his broadsword from his back. He then went head to head with the Soul guardian, as he kept swinging his sword at it, with the intention of distracting and not killing.

As the soul guardian and June clashed, the loud clashing of their weapons echoed across the once peaceful and quiet forest.

Not wanting to be left behind, Andrew joined the battle by playing a soft tune on his violin, creating a garden of roses made of ice on where the soul guardian stood. As the thorny ice vines started wrapping around its limbs, the soul guardian lifted its two front legs high in to the air, before bringing it down to the ground with so much force, creating a powerful shockwave that destroyed Andrew's ice garden.

"Insolent foul creature! You dare destroy our monarch's garden?! You shall pay!" Valen shouted with a mix of vindictive and righteous passion, all the while still in his butterfly form.

Andrew chuckled at his knights extreme dedication and loyalty to him, that he could really feel Valen's passion to extract vengeance for the ruined garden. Although he found it funny, Andrew was also touched by his knight's unwavering fidelity towards him.

While June and Andrew continued to do a good job of distracting the soul guardian, Jordan has finally entered the temple. Seeing as the dark pillar is located somewhere near the center of the temple, Jordan didn't waste any more time and head towards its direction.

When he finally arrived, Jordan was welcomed with a thick smog and miasma, that would normally make any people wheeze out from the get go. Thankfully he was wasn't affected by it.

At the center of the temple is a big and spacious circular room with a pool at its center. There, Jordan was able to locate Scott's soul. Scott's soul looked exactly like him, but his body is full of tribal markings, while his ears are pointed like that of an elf. His hair is a little bit more shaggy and slightly unkempt, than what he normally looks physically.

Weird, slimy tentacles are wrapped around his b.a.r.e n.a.k.e.d unconscious soul's body. The tentacles looked like leeches, that has been s.u.c.k.i.n.g the life force out of Scott's soul.

"Ack! That's gross!" Jordan said in disgust as shivers ran down his spine.

When Jordan walked a little bit closer to Scott's soul, the tentacles swiftly and immediately reacted and attacked Jordan. Jordan was able to destroy the tentacles with ease, bu the tentacles just kept coming at him.

"Be careful child, as only one of those unholy things reaches you, it will immediately drain you of your soul's life energy." Antara's softly warned Jordan, as his nine-tails glowed.

"Antara, can you help me purify Scott's soul in one go?" Jordan politely asked, to which Antara swiftly replied with "Of course"

"Great! Then we'll do this in one go then" Jordan said with a slight smile on his face, as he took a step back, just far enough so that the tentacles will not attack him.

Jordan crouched down and took a sword drawing stance, before taking in a deep breath.

"Unsheathed style: Soul Dash!"

With a release of a breath, Jordan disappeared from where he stood, only to appear a meter away from Scott's soul, within half a second.

"Unsheathed style: Soul Cleanse!"

Jordan then drew his sword at the speed of light and plunged it straight on Scott's soul's c.h.e.s.t. Jordan's eyes blazed with purple energy, as his nine-tails glowed with purple misty aura.

The tentacles started wriggling all over the place, as purple eerie aura bloomed from Jordan's katana. Slowly the tentacles released their hold on Scott's soul one by one, before disintegrating on the ground. The dark pillar where the tentacles were attached, slowly cracked before completely shattering like glass.

Once fully freed, Jordan was able to catch Scott's unconscious soul just in time before it fell on the ground.

Now, completely released for the thing that was eating his soul's life energy, a huge shockwave traveled across Scott's soul realm, giving life once again to the desolation it once had. The dark swirling clouds above the temple quickly dissipated, as light started piercing through it.

Also, when Jordan successfully cleansed Scott's soul, the Soul guardian suddenly froze, before completely shattering to pieces. The pieces started returning to the temple, rebuilding it to its once former glory.

"Our boy did it!' June said with proud smile on his face, as he felt life travel across the soul realm once again.

"He sure did!" Andrew nodded in a proud manner.

Jordan gently pulled out his sword from Scott's soul before gently laying him down into the now clear watered pool. After making sure that all threats were extinguished, Jordan stood up and walking out of the temple with an accomplished smile on his face. As Scott's soul gently floated at the pool, its crystal clear water started rejuvenating his soul, restoring life to it once more.

"Good Job Jor-Jor!" Andrew affectionately said with pride in his voice, as he walked towards his brother when Jordan exited the temple.

"How's Scott?" June then asked when he reached Jordan

"He's going to be alright now" Jordan answered, as his face radiated with youthful energy.

"I'm proud of you, little bro!" June said with pride and admiration, as he affectionately ruffled his adorable little brother's hair.

Normally, Jordan would playfully swat June's hand away, but lately he's been really getting used to June's show of affection, as he lately realized that June is an affectionate kind of guy.

Jordan shyly blushed, as his brothers rained him with praise. His heart felt so full that he felt like its going to burst out any second. He wasn't used to be in the receiving end of compliments, so when it just kept flowing, his eyes started to teared up. At that moment, he really felt loved and cherished.

"Okay, little kid, we know you're great and all, but how are we going to get out of here?" Andrew asked with a hint of teasing in his voice.

"Oh, that's easy" Jordan simply said, before snapping his fingers and viola, they returned to the physical realm.