By the time we reach the kingdom, Humans stop pumping endlessly out of the portal, but it has yet to close. I can still see it glowing in the distance. Hopefully, no more come out of it, but then again, I shouldn't hope against the inevitable. We make it back to the castle mostly okay, but Nova seems shaken, and with good reason. A lot of people tried to grab at him and attack him; however, he managed to fend them off well.

"We need to stop the Humans from getting as close as they are!" I tell the others. "This is a very special place, and I will not have their filthy hands ruin it!"

My brother nods while Amber and her mother seem to be lost. Do they not understand? What are they so confused about!? If their home was being attacked like ours is, wouldn't they try to defend it?

"I'll keep the ones at the distance out," the mother says hotly. She faces the oncoming army with her bow and arrow and begins shooting at many at a time. Her daughter helps her out by shrieking into the crowd and fighting them, defending her mother so that she doesn't get shot while reloading.

Nova looks at me. "Promise me you will not die," he pleads slightly. "I couldn't stand it if you did!"

I grip his shoulder with one hand and stroke his cheek with the other. "I cannot promise anything," I sigh. "This is war; we need to accept that Numbers are going to die defending this kingdom, and you or I may be among their numbers."

His shoulders sag, and he nods slowly. "Fine. I will do my best to defend the kingdom." Nova takes off with a somber look to him.

~.Astral/Nova.~

The thought of my brother possibly dying plagues my mind as I rush into a crowd with black hands and breathe black smoke form my mouth to kill the Humans specifically as best as I can. Honestly, even if I didn't use this ability, it's fairly easy to kill them. All I need is some fire or choking vines, and they're dead. The only problem is their sheer numbers: they greatly outnumber us and push us back to the outer walls that protect the castle from being breached. The Numbers put up a strong resistance against them in order to protect our home, but it is all in vain.

I start touching Humans with my black hands, killing them instantly with my breath and hands. Those with extreme protection are safe from my touch, but those with swords slice them, and my breath enters their system. With this new pattern figured out, we finally start pushing the Humans back and away from the palace walls.

Hands start grabbing at me once more. With a yelp of surprise, I struggle to touch the hands, which I know are not Number hands, to kill whoever it is. The hands, however, have protection on them; I cannot touch the flesh! Raining death on them is not much of an option either! I barely managed not to kill Numbers with my breath, and rain will be harder still to control! This form of magic is still new to me, and I have not tried to control it as much as I should have. I cannot do anything that risky just to win!

The Humans bind my hands with something cold, tie a gag into my mouth to keep me mostly silent, and whisk my away from the Numbers that try to take me back. I struggle against them as their swords and claws strike out at my captors, but whatever I do does not help. Nothing I think of will get me out of this! I could try using plants, but I have no contact with the ground since one, clearly a male by the broadness of his shoulders, has slung me over his shoulder. I tidal wave would destroy everything, including the castle. Fire would be useless as well.

Or would it...?

I try releasing flames onto this Human, but the moment I try, nothing comes out. I start panicking at this point, struggling furiously against the male, but he is physically stronger than I am! I have never trained my body physically; I never thought I would pay for it later!

~.Crimson.~

I take a quick break to clean my katana and gather my weapons. I lost my mask in the midst of the fight, but that is not my primary concern at the moment. Beside me, Free stretches his unstable wings and sits beside me. All of the years he spent in the grave has rendered his body weak. He runs out of stamina much quicker than usual.

"Are you sure you can continue?" I ask my beloved.

"Yes!" he retorts, crossing his arms. "I can!"

I grimace. "If you say so, but make sure you don't run out of energy too quickly!"

Free grins at me with the expression that says he can handle anything. His green eyes shine through his goggles. "Don't worry so much, Sei! I'll be just fine!"

"Don't try that with me, Free," I scold slightly, putting away my weapons away. I crouch to his level and ruffle his hair, which has grown a little longer but has still retained its spiky form. Free leans into me, and I hold him close.

Suddenly, something feels off. Without thinking, I quickly kneel down and pull him in front of my to protect him against whatever may be coming.

~.Astral/Nova.~

I can feel the distress signals shooting out of my mind like the beams that come out of my hands. My struggles only increase when the Human throws me into some kind of vehicle. I can feel my brother's surprised energy, which then turns into fury and rage. I knew this would happen, but I can deal with this rage later. For now, I just want to get out of here!

My body freezes up when the engine starts. I whimper through the rag. My struggles die away, and through the mirror in front of me by the driver, I see the man smile, more like a smirk, to me. His partner, a woman in her early adulthood, gives me a sympathetic look, almost apologetic. The signals pump out faster than last time; Blackie will definitely know that I am in danger now.

The vehicle moves, lurching forward among the other bodies. I press my body against the seat, as if to distance myself from these vile creatures. Out of the corner of my eye, the Humans start to retreat. The Numbers are clearly aware of the lack of my presence by now, and some even take off in the direction of this vehicle. The rest give chase with anger in their eyes.

A black figure darts right through them. Blackie lands right on top of the car with a smash! His fist slices through the metal; the Humans freak out when they see and hear what happens. Their car swerves, but it manages to go through the portal. Before that, though, Blackie pulls me through with his tentacles. He laughs when the Humans go away without their target.

"Thank you," I sigh as soon as he gets the rag off of my mouth.

"You're welcome." He gets the cold things off of my wrists and leads me back down to the kingdom. Since the Humans supposedly "have their specimen," the other Humans exit through the portals in large numbers, leaving the Numbers to count our fallen. Of course, the Humans carry dead people with them, too, so we aren't the only ones to mourn.

Well, I cannot say the casualties are good, but they aren't entirely terrible. Blackie has told me how many have died during the war when we were young, so I can say that this was much better.

"Is everyone alright?" Blackie calls while he helps the injured. The Numbers nod; some of them even call out that they're fine. My brother nods and walks around so everyone can hear; I follow. "I want those that can walk to help the severely injured to the infirmary!" he bellows. "Lady Luck and her medical team will help those that can be saved!" He sugarcoats almost nothing. He's pretty much saying that some will die on the bed of the infirmary. Blackie continues, "Others who can walk will gather those who have passed into the main hall so we can recognize them and give them a proper burial!"

"Yes, my liege!" the Numbers all exclaim and get to work.

To RyuRan2200:

I feel like this needs to be addressed. Others reading this (Besides Deedee) won't understand what I'm talking about, but this is literally the only way I want to say this. I'm not unmuting you. I know I said harmful things to you, but the way you made me feel was utterly depressing and terrible. You didn't have to say those things when I did, but you did. This is the result. Don't bother 808Hawaii_girl with your messages to me anymore. I'm sure she doesn't want to read any of that. She was right about you the first time I muted you. She said, "She's not good for you, Minty." Still, I gave you another chance, which proved to be a mistake on my part. This will be my last message to you. I no longer even have a shred of patience for you. I know you're reading this. I may be nice when you first meet me, but when you rub me the wrong way, I turn into a completely different person than before. I don't like you. I'm not your friend. Goodbye.

To everyone else:

I hope that wasn't too depressing to read. I just needed to get that off of my chest. Even as I type this, the pressure starts to leave me. Don't worry; I'm still a nice person, if not a little cautious, when you first message me. And Deedee, thank you for convincing me to do this. I may have been leading myself down a never ending spiral down something bad, but you told me to cut off ties with her.

Thank you.