Code Collector

Allen stared at the twins as if ten horns grew from their heads. His eyes twitched and he shook his head, laughing lightly as he did not expect them to say such impossible things.

"Celestums are being monitored, right?" Allen asked. "They would notice if you get more than one."

"That's only if you're too scared to fight them," Ash said. She looked at Corry and they shared a look before they held each other's hands and conjured two swords.

"Great Gem Weapon!" Ash yelled.

"Dual River Splitter!" Corry yelled.

Each of them weilded one of the twin swords which was a big sword with blue tones. The upper blade was the dull one and it was composed of sharp teeth-like blades while the sharp side was thin and had blue wave carvings on it.

Each sword had a ball on the pommel. This ball was attached to a chain that connected both the swords, one being held by each of the twins. The chain was behind them while they stood side by side and held each swords on their outer hands.

"Wow," Allen gasped as they showed their weapon. "That's…"

"A Code from the Great Gems," Corry replied. "They came right after us and when we visited them, this was handed to us by one of them."

"That person could not stand the destruction of his planet and how she watched it perish," Ash sighed. "So she decided that it's better for us to have this instead of her living in their island in regret and guilt."

"And the Gods didn't hunt you for this?" Allen asked. "You basically have three Celestums, I guess one and a half each. But then…"

"The Gods are just mortals like us," Corry said. "It doesn't mean that they can't be defeated."

"But what do you suggest we do?" Jeremy asked. "If the Gods are indeed powerful, how can we fight them?"

"This might sound too cliche but we need each other," Ash said. "But first we need you to get one more Celestum. Then you have to alert their messenger. They will come to find you again, maybe this time they won't let you off with a warning."

"They will attack?" Allen asked.

"No," Corry said. "Only he will."

–

The twins led Allen and his friends into the forest where they said one more Great Gem Code lies. The two had debated for years on what to do with the Code, either to get it or find another one to take it.

They couldn't let the generation penalty to take place if they take it, so as long as they didn't know what to do with it yet, the Code was sealed away.

"But how do you seal a Code?" Gwen asked as they headed to their destination.

"You can't seal just ordinary Codes," Ash replied. "The Code must be a Celestum or else the seal won't just take place."

"Oh," Gary pursed his lips. "So, say I want to seal the Great Gem Code that I have, the generation penalty won't take effect."

"That's right," Corry was the one who replied this time. "The Code is sealed and it can't be taken unless the host of the seal was broken intentionally."

"Host of the seal?" Gary asked. "What?"

The twins didn't want to say more, so instead they showed them what they meant. They arrived at a small cave where a spring of water was flowing in the middle of the entrance.

Ash kneeled in front of the spring and inserted her hand on the small hole that the water was flowing from. They heard a click and it was there that the ground under the cave sunk and showed the true size of it which was three times larger.

"Let's go," Ash said, leading the way inside.

They entered the dark cave and reached the end where a small marble was hovering in the middle of the path. Corry took the marble and placed it on a slot where another button clicked and the end of the cave vanished, showing a large dome-shaped room.

"This is just like what Chara showed us! In the marble cave where she gave us the Great Gem Codes," Allen said, looking at Jeremy. "Does people from the Great Gem race all build systems like this?"

"This was taught by us," Corry said. "I remember Chara. She was a cheerful woman that was on her late age when she became a Hunter. She was like a mother to her race, but she betrayed them."

Allen and Jeremy paused and looked at each other. Jeremy spoke, "Betrayed? Chara said that she was the one who got betrayed."

"Chara held the Jade Spear, right?" Ash sighed. "How did you think she got that?"

"Her best friend, Lana, gave it to her," Allen replied. "Or did she?"

"There are only two ways to gain a Code from another Hunter," Ash said. "One is by asking them nicely, the other is by–"

"Killing them," Allen finished. "She killed her? But why?"

Ash raised her hand and waved it in the air, creating glitters that formed shapes. The shapes acted like humans, showing them what happened.

Chara stood in front of a woman, which seemed to be Lana. The woman looked like what she described, strong, smart, and wise. While Chara had a fickle-looking face, and a curly hair to match it, Lana had long straight hair and a proper posture.

"They had an argument," Ash narrated. "They are best friends and this was the first time they fight. And their last."

"And the reason being?" Allen asked. Ash smiled and waved her hand again, this time, the glitters moved and showed the two women weilding their weapons.

They clashed blades, fighting gloriously until one fell. The Jade Spear held by Chara landed on the ground and so did she. Lana pointed her weapon at her friend.

"Chara betrayed everyone," Ash sighed.

Then, a sword pierced through Lana's chest. The woman's eyes widened as she slowly turned around to see a large man with a lion's man.

"Chara made a deal with Leo," Corry sighed. "She killed all the other Gems."