------ Millie ------
It felt like I was floating.
Was I dead?
It was very peaceful, wherever I was. I couldn't hear or feel anything.
In fact, it was then I noticed that I couldn't breathe.
But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it turned out. I waited for the moment my lungs wouldn't be able to hold any longer, but it never came. It wasn't that I couldn't breathe- it was more like I didn't need to breathe.
Definitely dead.
I decided to open my eyes.
At first, everything was dark and blurry. I couldn't focus on anything. So I waved my hand in front of my face.
Couldn't see it.
Where was my hand?
I looked down at my body, only to find that I didn't have one.
What was going on here?
Then, everything sharpened. I took a deep breath, and it filled me with an unknown energy. One I hadn't felt before.
I then realised where I was.
Underwater.
I waited for panic to set in.
It didn't.
I moved my arms again, and this time I did see them- but they weren't physical flesh and bone. They were virtually invisible. I could only just see the outline of them when I moved. The same went for the rest of my body.
I giggled, still not entirely sure what was going on here. My thoughts were a bit jumbled, and I struggled to pinpoint the reasoning as to why I was even here.
I splayed my barely-visible fingers out away from me, and watched the water swirl around them, playfully. I'd never felt my connection to the water this strongly before. In fact, it was almost as if I could feel this entire body of water...
Something happened. It almost felt like my entire body was expanding. Spreading out. I became aware of everything within these waters. Every stone. Reed. Boat. For a moment, I couldn't even see the blurred outline of my body. I was just one with the water, moving from one area to another almost instantaneously.
It felt incredible.
But then it hit me.
Ronan's face appeared at the forefront of my thoughts, and dread filled me. Where was he? David. Irina. Were they still alive? The last few moments all rushed back to me in a matter of seconds, and even though I was still confused about how I ended up in the water, I realised that Fujio was probably still out there.
I needed to get out of here.
It seemed as though the water was in tune with my thoughts. Or were my thoughts in tune with the water?
Either way, I knew that in that moment, I was in complete control.
I felt my water-fused body rise quickly to the surface, before shooting through. Somehow, the water continued to carry my now flesh-and-bone-body, even above the surface, before landing me on the concrete. I landed hard on my feet, but on my feet all the more, and flicked my wet hair back over my shoulder.
From here, I could see Fujio- only because he was easily ten times bigger than before, and... a fucking dragon. I had to stare for a moment, just to make sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. That the lack of oxygen hadn't actually affected my brain.
Yep. Definitely a dragon.
I snapped into action when I saw that in his giant hand was Ronan, struggling. Couldn't he teleport?
I ran, charging my body with electricity as I did, before my feet left the floor and I found myself soaring through the air at impossible speeds. The scene I was approaching slowed- David was firing his lightning, and Irina her air energy. Ronan was still struggling against Fujio's grip.
Fujio was so big, his hand easily wrapped around Ronan's waist. I noticed Adam laying unconscious a distance away- I would be lying if I said he didn't deserve being knocked out. I just hoped he wasn't dead.
I changed my direction, and headed straight towards Ronan, hoping I'd somehow be able to grab him in my lightning state and free him. I was mildly surprised that it worked- I managed to hook my hands under his arms, push off Fujio's claws with my feet, and then fly higher into the air before plummeting back down to the earth, all whilst keeping hold of Ronan.
Time resumed, and it took a moment for Ronan to realise what had happened. He was out of breath, looked around frantically, and then he saw me.
"Millie!" He exclaimed, and immediately pulled me into a tight hug. "What happened? How did you get me out of there?"
Fujio roared when he realised that Ronan was no longer in his hands, and looked around, confused- it would have happened in less than a second. Irina and David were also a little bit confused, but they didn't stop whatever they were doing.
"No time to explain." I said, and then fused back with the lightning and took advantage of the slowing of time.
I shot right into Fujio, and was very concerned at the fact that I actually went straight through him. I landed right next to Irina.
She jumped at my sudden appearance.
I smiled. "Hey." I said.
She looked relieved to see me, but I didn't give her any time to respond before I went back to the lightning. I knew I would be paying for this tomorrow, or maybe even the next week, but for now, I couldn't think of anything better to do. I was high on whatever energy the water had given me.
Instead of firing myself at Fujio, I decided to go around him, and then continue going around him. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, but just hoped that it would do something, even if it just pissed him off- Irina's previous tornado had given me the idea, but instead or air, it was lightning. I continued to twist around Fujio's dragon form, and knew that it was at least confusing him. I then thought about the dragon- obviously, he'd got it from Adam. Adam's dragon was the water dragon. Did that mean it wouldn't particularly like fire? I knew my elements worked in sync with each other if I wanted them to, but they definitely didn't have to work together. Besides, his water element wasn't necessarily controlled by the same magic as mine. That meant maybe my fire could work against him.
So, I tried something. I was still in lightning form, so accessing the fire at the same time would be tricky. Maybe even impossible. But definitely worth the try.
It took a moment.
Another moment.
Was this going to work?
It had to.
Finally, I felt it.
An incredible surge of fire made its way through my body, and I held on to it, along with the lightning. I took a quick look at my hands- they were still fused with the lightning, but also the fire.
I wondered if Haydn was watching from whatever hell-hole he was currently residing in. Maybe he was jealous. I grinned, and continued my electrical-firey-tornado idea.
Fujio howled, but not in the impatient way he'd been doing before. This was a painful howl. One that told me he was definitely not enjoying himself.
It was working.
He started to shrink, and I could see he was returning back to his human form. I didn't stop until he was completely human again. Then, when I did stop, I landed lightly on the ground a few feet away from him. My body still burned for a moment- I could see it glowing red and orange under my skin. But it felt incredible. It would be difficult for the fire and lightning to stay away for a while- I'd have to be careful about that.
But for now, it was all good. Fujio had fallen onto his hands and knees, and the spirit element seemed to be escaping him in all directions. I saw one tendril of it go right towards Adam, before shooting straight into his body. He gasped and sat up, confused.
Fujio, on the other hand, was angry. He started to shift again, back into the huge tiger. Clearly all I'd done was somehow release whatever other spirits he'd stolen, but the power of that chalice was still running through his veins, and he still had his own tiger spirit.
I was ready to go again- more than ready.
Buzzing, in fact.
But then something else knocked Fujio sideways.
I looked and saw Adam standing there, his hands outstretched as he released his dragon at Fujio. It stopped Fujio's transformation, and I realised that even though he still had the power and the spirit, he was most definitely weakened.
"You fucking bastard." Adam said. He was pissed, and rightly so. Fujio had promised him everything, and then took it all away. That didn't excuse what he did, but I couldn't imagine the disappointment he must have felt.
For once, I took a step back and watched the fight unfold between them. I almost felt the same as when Akio was fighting Fujio. I wanted to get involved, to help, but knew it wasn't my fight.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked to see Irina there, with David behind her. I smiled, and then Ronan appeared on my other side.
"You were a fool to think I would ever give you power." Fujio said, trying to get to his feet. "You're just a boy. Useless. You won't amount to anything, even with that dragon inside you. It's a waste."
"You think?" Adam said, walking towards Fujio. When Fujio got back to his feet, he started to change again, growing. Muscles bulged and his nails sharpened into claws. "You were the one who taught me."
"Exactly!" Fujio shouted. "Even with training from the most powerful Spirit Warrior alive, you ended up useless."
Adam stopped walking. He didn't look phased by what Fujio was saying. He was over it, for sure. He then released the smokey dragon again, throwing his hands forward. The dragon roared, and I realised this wasn't just Adam's fight. The dragon wanted a revenge of its own.
Fujio blocked it easily. I was beginning to wonder whether I should get involved again, but then I realised that the last thing Adam had thrown had only been a distraction.
Adam started gesturing with his hands, just like Fujio had done. Surely Fujio wouldn't have taught Adam that?
Fujio's face changed. He looked concerned for a moment, and then laughed. "You have no idea what you're doing, boy." He said, and walked purposefully towards Adam.
Adam was calm, though. "I've watched you do this so many times." Adam said, still going with the motions. The precise movements. "I know exactly what I'm doing."
Fujio realised his mistake. He'd had no faith in Adam. He thought he was useless, when really, Adam had been watching him. He'd not only learned whatever Fujio had taught him, but so much more. Things that Fujio wouldn't have wanted him to know. Things Fujio didn't think he could know.
"Stop!" Fujio yelled, and then ran at Adam, wanting to stop him.
But he wasn't quick enough.
Adam pushed out with his hand, just as Fujio had leapt into the air. They were so close to each other- Fujio had his clawed hand reached out, which was less than an inch from Adam's outstretched hand, but whatever power Adam had inflicted stopped Fujio in his tracks. He paused for a second, before a powerful energy blast threw him back. But Fujio's spirit didn't go with him. It lingered right in front of Adam's hand, a shadowy ball with a white essence inside it.
As Fujio flew backwards, he started to change back into an ordinary human.
He landed hard on the ground, and didn't move.
Adam took the spirit element, and took a deep breath when it entered his system.
The fight was over.
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