(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 54

"Star Killer?"

"Yeah. From what I remember, the Star Killer was an attack that he was working on since before I met him. Of course, he couldn't use figara at the time, so it was an unfinished move until my death. I remember the first time he'd used that move, back when he fought against Aggaron. This isn't a classroom, Dre," he said as Dre's hand raised.

"I know. It's just that you lost me after that last sentence. 1: How did he fight against Aggaron if you was the King of Elements? 2: How could you see the attack if you'd died beforehand?"

"Good questions. As you may remember from our first meeting, you weren't supposed to be the King. The reason that you are is because of a snap decision Toney and I had made. I'd received mortal wounds in my last battle against Aggaron, and if we hadn't made our decision, I would've died by his hands, which is much worse than dying from anyone else."

Dre gulped. He knew that he didn't want to know what the decision was. Unfortunately, he knew that it didn't matter if he wanted to know about it or not. The fact was that he had to know. "What was the decision?"

Hiro lowered his head before taking a breath. "In order to transfer the King's power, he had to kill me." Dre gave a startled gasp. "He was my best friend," Hiro continued as he studied the grass swaying slowly underneath him. "He had my back, treated me as if I were his own brother. Whenever word got out that I was raised as an Adranés, he risked his reputation by taking me back to my village to see someone that I was attached to before I learned I was the King of Elements. For seven years, we were like brothers, and yet he had to force himself to kill me and claim the King's power in order to save both Amity and Earth. Sometimes, I envy that man's will. Do you think you'd be able to do something like that to Ian? Or Loyalty?" he asked, finally looking up to Dre.

He couldn't answer. There was no way for him to. Of course he could never even imagine going through that choice with either of his teammates, let alone one of his own brothers.

"This is getting too tense," Hiro said. "Try doing an enchantment. I'm sure that's rouse a laugh from us."

"What you say-"

Hiro interrupted him by holding up a finger. "Go take care of business, first," he said while moving his hand in a shooing motion.

Dre heaved a sigh before he held out a hand to the endless world. "Tally ho," he whispered to himself.

~~~~~

"I'm really worried about Rosemarie," Keiko said after she and Michael finished eating breakfast. Ms. Jackson had already went to sleep after Michael goaded her out of washing and putting up dishes. They both stood in front of the kitchen sink; Michael washed the dirty dishes while Keiko rinsed and placed them into their dish counter. She looked over to Michael with concerned eyes. "She hadn't been answering any of my calls last night. Do you think that something bad happened to her?" She gave a gasp with a flushed look as she said, "Maybe she got kidnapped."

"Doubt it." Michael handed Keiko a freshly clean plate. He kept his eyes on the water as he continued. "She's probably still miffed about Ian. You probably know about that, though. I mean, since you're basically an empath, I figured that you could've picked up on her emotions."

"That's the thing, though. I couldn't feel anything." Michael's eyebrow raised, though he still didn't take his eyes off of the water. Keiko's emotional talent was the major thing that got them this far. Before they were both placed in the orphanage, she was able to tell where to go in order to receive help and who wouldn't help. If it wasn't for that ability, there's no telling where they'd be. Now they were beginning to fail her. What could be going on?

Keiko suddenly dropped the plate into the soapy water and attempted to run for the door, only to have Michael grab her shoulder with his enhanced reflexes.

"No."

"But... but..." She looked back at him, her large, yellow eyes looked on the verge of tears.

Michael heaved a sigh. "How about this-" he turned away from the sink and knelt in front of her, placing both hands on her shoulders, "after we get finished washing up, we'll go to her house and see how she is. How does that sound?" he suggested with a grin.

She sniffled and wiped a tear from her cheek with a much-too-long sleeve and nodded. "You got my sleeves wet."

"That's why we have more than one shirt, pipsqueak." He patted her head, struggling to not laugh when she gave him that annoyed look. "Go and get changed. I'll finish up here. Come on, don't give me that look," he chuckled as she pouted before disappearing into the hallway.

Michael continued to chuckle as he plopped an iron skillet into the sink with a muffled thud. Man, Keiko was beginning to get tall. Of course, she was still short, especially compared to Michael, but she looked like she'll be about as tall as Megumi, or even taller. He had an odd sense of pride, knowing that he'd helped Keiko get to that point. He began to wonder if she'd actually begin to look her age soon.

He furrowed his brows as the dish towel and skillet fell back into the water. He hadn't thought about it until now, but why exactly was she beginning to change now? Even if she was an Amian, why would she not grow until now?

Or could it be because of the other half of her biology? Zero did say that she was half-Amian before the entrance exam. What could be the other half? It could be Human, but her eyes say otherwise. The cat-like shape, the unnaturally yellow eyes; they looked more like a feline's eyes than Human or Amian. That made even less sense. The only other person he know that was half-Amian was Kim, and she looked to be half-cat. Why didn't Keiko look the same if she was also half-cat?

"Hey!" he heard Keiko's voice say from the doorway of the kitchen. She glared at him, placing her fists on her hips. "Did you save the rest of the dishes for me?"

Bewildered, Michael looked from Keiko to the water before laughing. "Nah. Just lost in thought." He went back to washing the skillet. You're getting really tall, Short Stuff. I'd say you're probably taller than Megumi now."

"I am?" she asked, her eyes bright.

"Of course." Thought that wasn't saying much. "We'll go to Rose's house once I finish up with this."

"Hurry," she groaned, hoping on the balls of her feet.

"Hold your horses, or else I'm going to go slower, "he said with a smirk.

In an instant, she stilled herself. "Sorry," she said quickly.

.gooQ''/