Elementals II: Prophecies (DISCONTINUED)

~ Chapter 33 ~

Year: 3205
Military Academy

Ember:
"Rain?" I am confused. I'm back where it all happened, where my memory goes blank and the only person here with me, is him. Last I saw him, he was covered in open wounds and nasty blisters. Looking at him now, there's none of that. "How is-...last I saw you, you were in terrible shape. You were close to dying..." I leave the sentence hanging as he takes a step closer towards me. Every part of me wants to run towards him and feel his warm embrace, but something about this whole scenery doesn't feel right.

Something definitely happened here, but I am completely blanking out on what. I remember that I was involved in something with Blaze...and Rain...he was fully covered in blisters and everything, but I don't remember a single thing. "Ember...I'm not really here." I hear him say. I turn my head back towards him. "But I can see you...you're right in front of me." Rain shakes his head. He looks around where we are both standing. "You see me, but...I'm a part of your memory, your imagination. You know I was in a terrible shape earlier...now I'm not alive, not anymore."

It feels like my heart is dropping to the floor and even further as I take those words in. "In your mind, in your heart...those are the places where I will always exist." He tries to make me feel better by smiling, but...it doesn't help. "I'm sorry...I'm a bit confused. I can see you right in front of me, physically..." I go on, denying what might be true, and walk towards him and grab his hand. "...and I can touch you, hold your hand. How is this not real? What if all the rest of it is just a lie, and this is real?"

He has a specific look on his face then. "What is 'all the rest of it'?" He asks. "You know..." But I don't. I try to find the words, but not a single one comes out. The way Rain looks down at me tells me that he expected this. "I don't remember...this feels like a dream, like a nightmare. Are we both dead?" Rain shakes his head. "Then what the hell is this?" I feel like I'm scraping the back of my throat with the intensity that I say it. For a while, Rain doesn't say anything. My voice echoes through the hallways that lead away from us. I drop down to my knees. I have never felt this powerless and weak before.

"I'm dead, but you are alive. You were knocked out with a solid blow to the head, and you have been unconscious for a little while. That is probably why you can't remember..." Rain sits down on one knee next to me. "Did you see it?" I look at him desperately. "Because I cannot remember a single thing, not even the smallest detail." I am properly scared by the lack of memory. I suppose the only other time I have felt this terrified, was when Rain died...which I don't even remember at the moment. "I was already dead by then...but I saw all of it..." He goes on.

"What did you see? What happened?" I ask desperately. "Well...we were trying to get out of here, for some reason. You, me and Blaze." He stops. "Yeah, and?" I ask. "Blaze got out of here..." "Well, how? What happened?" I keep on asking. "Come on, Rain, tell me! If you're dead, you have nothing to lose by telling me, do you? How did a) she escape, b) you die, and c) I end up wherever this is?" I keep going. I have always been persistent and that doesn't change now either.

"She never intended to bring us. She used us and then left us behind, it was her plan from the very beginning." He goes on. My first initial thought is that it doesn't sound like her. Of course, that is just a feeling that I have, but I have no evidence to support that. "...she used your kind spirit, and my bad health to get away from us and the Grand Master." He goes on. "Listen, we are...or were, just kids who didn't know any better. The Grand Master is just misunderstood. He has had our best interest with him the whole time..." Rain goes on.

"There are of course some people, that have a twisted idea of what he is and what he stands for. For that reason, they oppose him." Rain says. I am still confused. "My broth-...Breeze left because he did not understand the Grand Master. Blaze stayed behind but realized some of the same things that my broth-...that Breeze did. She mixed you into it because she knew I wouldn't support either of them. It turned into some kind of mind-game. That has all resulted in my death and you being unconscious."