Shadow Weaver: Sole Heir Of The Night

Mind racing, Enzo paused, looking at the necklace in Raven's hands. It would be a lie if he said he hadn't recognized it before; all this while he had just overlooked the possibility.

But now it was laid bare.

"Eliza. She's my benefactor," Enzo couldn't help but sigh.

If not for Eliza, he would have died in that mine those months ago; if not for her and her brother's sacrifice, he wouldn't be here. That necklace he took was a form of remembrance to him, for all she did.

"Oh, she has always been the righteous type," Raven muttered, struggling on whether to continue seeing Enzo's state.

Truth was, aside from the fact that he was a great star, the main thing that drew her towards Enzo was just that. The necklace, a signature that one was blessed by the ice warden. One that was given only to a select few.

"I guess so," Enzo nodded.

'Did she come to investigate what happened to Eliza, or is she here coincidentally? I wonder which one it is.'

Enzo bit down on his lip. She had picked a perfect time to ambush him with this: if it was the former, he was weak and could barely move. As for the latter, well, he could only hope that it was the case.

"In future, if anyone asks, I gave you that necklace and not Eliza," Raven suddenly voiced, drawing Enzo's attention to her as she stared daggeredly at him; a serious tension emitted from her very person.

Enzo was lucky to have met her before leaving Earth. The moment Eliza and Daniel died there was a massive search for bodies on Zyria. They found one of the two people that survived, and that one person was currently on the ice super world being interrogated for months.

That person would probably never leave.

Fortunately that person did not know who Enzo was and couldn't bring about information to get him too. Enzo was in far more danger than he actually thought.

Weavetech was the least of his problems.

"Oh?" Enzo was taken aback as he watched Raven stand up and walk toward the door.

"It's very important you don't tell anyone anything about her. Let it stay between the two of us," she added, then left the room quickly, leaving Enzo dull and without words to reply with.

He could only sigh in deep thoughts as he fall asleep on the floor.

The next few days, everything went back to normal with Raven maintaining her normal coldness with some bursts of energy and playfulness. It was like what had happened that night didn't actually happen.

They even enrolled Roddy into a training center not too far away from the house and paid his fees fully for several months.

The amount of resources they had now was not little anymore.

However, one person didn't quite budge with their plans.

"Okay, tell me why you think this is a good idea?" Carlos asked, standing in the snow outside the cabin.

On the porch, the rest of the family watched, including Zeke who had come to visit them.

"How long do you guys think he'll last?" Zeke asked, chewing some chips as he looked at Enzo and his younger brother in the snow.

Enzo right now had his eyes blindfolded, his arms tied behind his back in front of Carlos. This was by all metrics an unfair fight.

But….

"I don't know, maybe five?" Raven replied calmly with a smile. Enzo's decision to let Carlos become a freelance weaver right now was dependent on whether he could take off his blindfold, a relatively easy task.

"Five minutes? That's generous," Zeke smirked coyly at Raven's assessment. He could understand it though; fighting blindfolded was hard.

"Five seconds," suddenly Raven spoke again, but didn't give Zeke time to react as Carlos moved forward.

"You asked for this," Carlos, with his wooden sword, lunged at Enzo, aiming for his legs with full force.

Enzo's hands were tied behind his back. It made sense that he couldn't dodge or block attacks specifically aimed at the legs, especially since he couldn't see them coming.

Contrary to Enzo's belief, his younger brother wasn't some kid who didn't know how to fight. Even back in Fort Marie, the young man had been watching fights on the internet and local underground brawls. This was how Enzo got his initial experience, and Carlos had learned from him.

Unfortunately, this was not enough to bring Enzo down.

Lifting his left leg, Enzo dodged the sword swing and changed his positioning, firmly planting his feet in the snow.

"Hmp!" Noticing this, Carlos didn't fret, as he picked up some snow with his wooden sword and threw it at Enzo's face.

He didn't hesitate. A second later, he pushed right back at Enzo.

Woosh

Woosh

Woosh

With every strike he tried to push Enzo to the ground, but Enzo was able to dodge each and every one of those strikes in a brief moment.

The two of them were clearly not a match as soon as Carlos began to have problems catching his breath. He did not give up, however; as suddenly he let go of his sword and threw his entire body at Enzo, tackling him to the ground.

"Hahaha, this kid!" Zeke pointed out as he laughed hysterically. Forget fighting moves — Carlos had ingenuity… to use his body as a shield? What a 'good' move.

Obviously, the kid wasn't as prepared as he seemed.

As the two struggled on the floor, Enzo finally had enough, tearing apart his constraints and taking off his blindfold himself.

"You failed. Now get off me," Enzo spoke coldly, then stood up.

Zeke was laughing, but what Carlos had done was incredibly dangerous. If he was fighting against a monster, would he throw himself at one because he was frustrated?

Clearly Carlos was not mentally ready for this yet.

"You can't stop me!" Carlos barked at Enzo, standing up in defiance and running out of the compound.

"Huh?" Enzo was taken aback by this, his gaze faltering as his younger brother suddenly phased through the snow and disappeared into thin air.

Enzo suddenly turned back at the other two with a serious frown on his face.

That… was not normal.

Immediately, he, Raven, and Zeke rushed into the snow and started looking for Carlos.

The settlement wasn't a place one could easily hide in; after all, it was just buildings and encampments all over the place. Their tracking quickly led them outside the settlement into the much deeper snowy terrain.

They searched all day and all night and got nothing; it was like he had vanished into thin air.

Fortunately, some time later Enzo received a message from his mother pointing exactly where he could find Carlos.

Together they scaled the cliff right behind the cabin, covered in dense trees, until they spotted Carlos's silhouette seated atop the cliff in a cross-legged posture.

"Carl," Enzo's voice sounded as he approached his younger brother with caution.

He was very unstable, annoyed, pissed off by the fact that he wasn't allowed to become a freelance weaver. He thought he could do it; he knew he was special.

"What do you want?" Carlos asked, knowing full well who was behind him.

He told his mother; she would definitely tell Enzo. It made complete sense he would be the one to come.

Turning around, Carlos's cheeks became visible to Enzo from the back; he quickly noticed the trail of icicles on his cheek.

Carlos had been crying.

"What's happening to me?" Carlos asked, a look of fear and confusion on his face.

All the while he had been training, strange things had also been occurring around him. Sometimes he would sleep and wake up in the living room; sometimes he would appear in town, and of late he would frequently wake up here.

He later learned of something called sleepwalking on the internet and thought that was the case, but it wasn't until today that it happened before his very eyes.

He teleported.

"I… don't know," Enzo responded calmly, trying to get a gauge of Carlos's emotional state.

"But we'll find out soon. Just come home with me," he approached and tapped him on the shoulder. This was indeed strange; he was sure Carlos hadn't come in contact with stardust or been sucked in for a voyage.

However, he seemed to have powers. This was strange.

"You just have to trust me," Enzo said reassuringly; it seemed like his little brother had been going through a lot without his knowledge.

"Okay…" The cold had thoroughly etched into his bones; he couldn't feel indignation anymore. He just wanted to go home.

As such, he was brought home without a fuss; a hot bath was run, and his mother tucked him into bed with a hot meal.

Later that night, though, Enzo appeared in his room with a massive beeping coffin.

"Scan for abnormalities and give me a detailed report."