Chapter 45
•Damian's P.O.V•
Alex and Keith met in the middle of the arena with a quick burst from both. Then-
*BOOM!!!*
An enormous explosion of fire and rock burst from them. The strong winds pushed everyone back in their seats, even off their seats. I covered my eyes. After a few seconds, it died down and allowed us to get ourselves back on our feet, especially Zack, who looked particularly dazed from the blast.
"Whoa!" Cameron exclaimed.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked. The others murmered in reply.
"What was that!?" Celest asked.
"That was one huge blast." Zielo said, scratching the back of his head.
"That was incredible..." Mr Silva said, looking down at the arena. I turned to the edge of the stands. The entire arena was covered in a cloud of dust.
"Yeah, but who won?" Zack asked.
"Lets find out." Cameron said, his eyes glowing. He held on to the railing and a small layer of frost formed on top of the metal. Then, a path of ice appeared leading down to the arena floor.
One by one, everyone slid down to the center of the arena. The dust cloud made it hard to see anything. I turned to Aaron.
"Aaron, if you please?" I asked.
"Gladly." Aaron replied. He stepped forward, his eyes glowing a bright grey. He Then clapped his hands together and a strong gust of wind blew from his fingertips. The wind blew the dust cloud away slowly, but when it cleared, all of our eyes widened in shock.
Alex and Keith lay on the ground opposite each other, covered in scratches and completely unconscious. Alex's flames faded and Keith's wolf form was a lot more tame. Around them was small bits of debris and tiny flames that lingered from the explosion. I stared in surprise.
"They're both out for the count?" I said in surprise. "Then, who wins?"
"No one. Neither one of them lasted longer than the other, and they're both obviously too tired to keep their eyes open, let alone stand. This match is a draw." Mr Silva said. We all turned back to the two unconscious elementals in in front of us. They glowed as I lifted them up with my telekinesis.
"Lets put them on the stands to rest up." I said. I turned to Natalie. "Nat, could you help with the injuries and speed up their healing?"
"Sure." She said. With that, we all made out way back to the stands. I set Alex and Keith down and Natalie did her work. Luckily, neither of them were injured too badly. I sat with the others, chatting away at the battle that we all witnessed. But as they were talking about it, my mind raced. That new form that Alex took on, I've never seen anything like it. What was it? Where did he get such power? Was he always this powerful? Does he even know how strong he truly is? Wait, then how strong is he really?
I turned to Alex. An expression of curiosity and slight concern spread across my face as I waited for him to wake up. More questions ran through my mind, but i decided to push them to the side and wait for my friends to wake up. I can ask Alex those questions later.
•Alex's P.O.V•
My eyes slowly fluttered open. I sat up, groaning quietly. I felt exhausted, unusually exhausted. My magic felt faint, weaker than how I remembered it. I looked around and found myself in the arena on stands. I scratched my head and felt a bandage wrapped around it. I looked down at my hands and found bandages wrapped around my forearms as well. I was confused, until my brawl with Keith briefly flashed into mind.
"You're finally awake."
I turned to Keith, who looked at me with a small grin. He also had bandages around his upper arm and a few around his head. My cheeks turned pink.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I'm, uh-"
I didn't get the chance to answer. The other elementals from my team quickly gathered around me in excitement, praising me for how incredible the battle was. Next thing I knew, I was bombarded with questions about my fight with Keith. And I was barely ble to answer any of them.
"What happened in the beginning with your powers?" Zack asked impatiently.
"Uh, I-"
"How'd you be them back?" Celest asked.
"Were you just holding back until the end?" Cameron added.
"Well, I-"
"And what was with that new form? I mean, the fire swirling around you and then turning into something from that show that you showed me- what was it called again?" Aaron said.
"Dragon Eye?"
"Yeah! That one! How did you do that?"
"And where did all of that spare power come from?" Natalie added.
"I-"
"That's enough, students." Mr Silva spoke up from behind the crowd. "Can't you see that the poor boy is exhausted? Give him some room to breathe."
The other elementals took a step or two back. Mr Silva then turned to me with an impressed look.
"That was one hell of a match, Fier." He complimented. "I see you've been taking my advice."
"Y-Yes, thank you, sir." I replied.
"Though, you still have quite a bit to go before you can truly master your flames. However, you've made a lot more progress than I would've ever expected. You even unlocked a new form." Mr Silva said. My eyes widened.
"A new form?" I asked in surprise.
"Yes. It greatly increased your strength, speed and overall power." Mr Silva explained.
"It's like my Terrawolf form." Keith chimed in. Mr Silva spoke again.
"Every elemental unlocks it after their powers develop enough. Though, it's quite rare to see an elemental unlock it this early on. Especially considering your circumstances." Mr Silva scratched his chin and hummed to himself in thought.
"Everything alright, Mr Silva?" I asked.
"Yes. I just realized that I might have some research to do." He said. He then turned to me curiously. "I see big things coming your way, Fier."
With that he turned to leave, before stopping and turning on his heels. "Now you can bombard him."
With that, Mr Silva left the arena.
The rest of us stared blankly at him for a second before everyone had their eyes on me eagerly. Zielo was the first to ask;
"So, how did you unlock that new form?" He asked.
"I dunno. One minute, I was starting to feel exhausted. The next, boom. Fire all around me." I explained.
"It looked so cool! Especially when you leapt forward and you made that enormous fire blast, and then the explosion at the end!?" Zack said quickly, tiny bolts of electricity sparking from his hair. He then let out a short gasp. "We need a name for it."
"A name?" I asked.
"Yeah! In case you do it again!" He said excitedly. "How about...Fire Rush?" Zack suggested.
"Nah, what about, Overheat?" Aaron said.
"Lame." Cameron said. "Why not, Hyper-Blaze?"
"That just sounds stupid. We should go with something grand, bright, vibrant! Just like his form." Celest said. "Like...Supernova!"
Damian thought for a second before shaking his head. "No, it doesn't sound right."
"I've got it!" Keith snapped his fingers. "What about, Infernal Overdrive?"
"Oooh, I like the sound of that." Zack said. "But why 'overdrive'?"
"Because that form drastically increases speed and strength, almost like it's putting him into overdrive." Keith explained.
"That makes sense." Zielo shrugged. "What do you think, Alex?"
I scratched my chin for a second. I then shot Keith a wide smile. "It's perfect!"
"Awesome! Infernal Overdrive it is!" Keith said, arms crossed.
"You think you can do it again?" Natalie asked curiously. I closed my eyes and held out my hand to spark a flame, only to get one the size of a candle flame.
"Nope." I closed my fist, extinguishing the flame.
"Damnit." Aaron muttered. "Oh well. I hope we get to see you go all out again some time."
"Yeah..." I sighed.
With that, the school day was officially over. We all changed into our casual clothing and walked out of the arena to our dorm. I walked ahead with the others, talking to Zielo, when I heard Keith call out to me from behind.
"Hey, Alex. Wait up!"
I turned back. "Keith."
I stopped. Keith quickly caught up to me and tied his hair back. "Can we talk for a minute?"
I turned to the others. "We'll catch up in our dorms." Zielo said. With that, they left, leaving Keith and I alone in the hallway.
"That was some fight." Keith said awkwardly trying to brake the silence between us.
"Yeah." I replied. "You were incredible back there."
"Not nearly as incredible as you." Keith said. "You were dodging and blocking my attacks like it was child's play. Even when your powers weren't working, you held your own against me better than a lot of people normally would."
"Yeah, well, you barely gave me any room that entire match. You were all over me the entire time." I said back.
"Yeah, until you unlocked Infernal Overdrive and wiped the floor with me." Keith laughed before letting out a sigh.
"Seriously though, no one has been able to dodge my attacks like you did. And the ones that you landed on me were incredibly strong." Keith said. I blushed slightly at his praise. He continued.
"And, yes, we did draw, but I wouldn't be mad in the slightest if you won. You're one of, if not, the most powerful elemental in our grade, and honestly, I couldn't ask for a better opponent." Keith said. His voice had deepened and gone softer. He sounded more sincere. Keith looked to me and bowed.
"It was an honour fighting against you, Alexander Fier."
I was totally caught of guard. I hadn't expected Keith to say any of that in such a soft tone. I just stared at him, utterly lost on what to say. Keith opened one of his eyes and looked up at me. When he saw the surprise on my face, he held back a laugh, which got me giggling too. The two of us then burst out laughing with each other. I caught a glimpse at Keith's wide grin and couldn't help but smile. He looked away and scratched his head, seeming like he had somethinghe wanted to say, but couldn't find the right words.
"Also..." Keith started. "...I kinda overheard your conversations with Damian before our match."
"You...You heard!?"
"You forget that a wolf's hearing is almost a hundred times better than a regular elemental's hearing, so yeah, I heard."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
I blushed out of embarrassment and buried my face into my hands, groaning to myself. I can't believe he heard all of that.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why I felt that way, or, I guess I still do feel that way. I don't even know what this feeling is. Is it love? Is it admiration? Is it weird? I mean, of coarse it would be. I'm sorry if it is. I understand if you-"
"Alex." Keith planted his hands on my shoulders, cutting my rambling short. He gazed into my eyes with a small, amused smile.
"It's okay." He said, his cheeks a slight pink. "I don't mind."
I shot him a puzzled, yet slightly relieved stare. "...you don't?"
"No, I don't." He said. "Besides, I know how you feel."
"You do?"
"Yeah. I've been there before. Staring at them then looking away, blushing madly when they're around, smiling like an idiot whenever they do something, the occasional stomach-knot that happens when they're near you, I've been through it all." He said. I stared at him blankly.
"Plus, I've been feeling the same way towards a certain yellow-haired elemental for a while now, so it's easy to tell."
My heart sank a little bit when he said that. But I quickly shook the feeling off. Keith shot me a knowing look.
"You've never had a crush before, have you?" Keith asked. I shook my head.
"No. I mean, I did find people attractive, but I've never actually fallen in love with someone before." I said sheepishly.
"Okay, that explains your reaction." Keith chuckled. "Want some advice?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
Keith flashed me a small smile. "Take your time."
"What?" I asked.
"It takes a while to figure everything out. Hell, I didn't even know I was pan until a year ago."
"And, how did you figure it out?" I asked.
"Well, it's different for everybody. Some people know right off the bat, some learn as they go. I didn't immediately realize that I wasn't straight, I kinda just found it out more and more as I went along. It took me a lot of thinking and contemplating, but as I did, I started discovering more about myself." Keith shrugged. I thought for a moment.
"I get that these feelings are new to you, especially since I'm a boy." Keith wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "It's gonna be confusing at first, and you're gonna be thinking about it a lot, but don't rush. Take everything one step at a time. It'll all make sense sooner or later."
I stood there blankly for a second. I thought to myself, taking in what Keith said before nodding in agreement.
"Okay." I said. "I'll take it one step at a time."
"Damn right you will!" Keith ruffled my hair playfully. I laughed a bit. Keith let go of me.
"Thanks, Keith." I said.
"Any time." He replied. The two of us started walking to our dorm. "If you ever need to k ow anything more, just come to Me or Celest and well tell you all all you need to know." Keith said.
"Celest?" I asked. "Is she-"
Before I could finish, a searing pain shot through my head like a bullet through the skull. I let out a cry as I held the sides of my head and fell to the ground. I could feel something burning into my cheek. I dropped to the ground, feeling that same pain down my arms and in the center of my chest. Keith knelt down next to me in fear and concern.
"Alex? Alex, What's going on? Are you okay?" He asked. I tried to answer, when a familiar voice echoed through my mind. An eerily familiar voice.
'I'm coming for you, Red-Haired Hero...'
The pain suddenly faded. I hunched over, trying to catch my breath. A single tear fell down my cheek. Keith shot me a concerned stare.
"Alex?"
I took a deep breath. I stood up and straightened myself out, calming myself down enough to think clear thoughts. Keith gave me a frightened stare. I looked him dead in the eyes with a serious glint.
"It's the Corrupted King." I said, quietly. Keith frowned.
~~~~~
Author's Notes
I am so happy with how this chapter came out. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending because, I'll admit it's a bit rushed, but I went back and rewrote it in a way that better describes what I saw in my head. So, yeah, overall, I think it was a success. Also, Keith being pansexual wasn't planned at first, but I like the fact that he is. I've personally never had a pansexual friend before so I'm not entirely sure how to write him with that in mind, but I'll sure as hell try.
-BlueBoyHalo14