ELEMENT

Chapter Three: Very Few Decisions

"Sage?"

Daniel knocked gently on the door to Sage's bedroom, feeling a certain responsibility to their friend. But they didn't want to impose, or sway her in any way. Above all, they felt it was more important to be there for Sage. And they had been, right?
Happy fucking birthday.

"Sage, are you alright?" Daniel came in further after hearing no answer.

She was curled up on the bed, no expression on her face, and no words coming out of her mouth.

So Daniel stepped even further. "Are you..." They didn't finish the question, because of course she wasn't okay.

"You don't have to try to convince me of anything, Daniel." Sage responded, their hair gently hanging in their face. "You really don't."

"Yeah, I get it." They sat gently next to her on the bed. "I wouldn't want to leave either."

"Of course I don't want to. But I'm going anyway."

Oh. Shit. Daniel thought she'd need more convincing than that. "So, you're decided, then?"

"What else am I supposed to do?" Sage sighed, finally chipping away at the iron wall that defended her feelings. "If I don't, everyone's going to either die or lose their Element. And nobody would thank me for it anyway, but it's a responsibility I guess I have now."

Daniel slumped a bit. "I could come with you."

"No." Sage sighed, bringing her head deeper into her arms. "You couldn't."

"...These other Light Elements. You think they'd be stronger than you?"

"Definitely."

"They'd be nice though, right?"

"Uh. Maybe. Hopefully. I'm not going into this with a bunch of arrogant little shitheads."

Daniel laughed shortly, throwing their arm around them. "So you've got this all figured out."

"Not everything!" Sage moved with Daniel's arm, half-grinning. "I don't even know how this whole saving the world thing is supposed to work!"

"Easy. You look at the evil guy and he explodes."

"Fuck off." Sage snorted, pushing Daniel's face away.

"I mean, you've gotta get better at your powers eventually! I mean, you're the princess," Daniel continued, trailing off as Sage's smile fell, "and..."

Sage snapped her fingers. Nothing. Holding out her hands and focusing every energy in her body to them, nothing happened even then. They laughed shortly, clicking their teeth. "I'm not even disappointed." That was a lie. She was.

Daniel sighed as well. "It'll happen in time, okay? Now that you know—"

"Know what?" Sage clenched her fists, not trying to sound angry but letting it happen anyway. "She answered one question and raised so many more. I know less than I did before today."

"Then go find the answers."

The statement prompted eye contact, so Sage snapped her head up and met Daniel's deeply brown eyes. And they repeated what they'd just said.

"Sage. Go find the answers."

The silence hung in the air, and then Sage stammered, eyes darting to their hands. "I-I won't survive this trip, not without magic."

"You will," Daniel said with an edge. "You totally will. I'll kill you if you die out there."

Sage laughed as Daniel stood up, walking to her closet. "What are you doing now?"