(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 27

For about thirty minutes, Daven sat in an uncomfortable leather chair outside of Ichi's office, waiting for him to return. This just felt like a waste of time, especially since he had injured Samantha. Intertwining his fingers, he began to think to himself if he really had to kill her to set his cousin free. There had to be an alternate way to break her control from him without resorting to lethal force. He'd already come close to killing one person; he didn't want to force himself with that same situation again.

Moments later, he heard someone's voice from around the corner of the hallway. "... I'm not as young as I used to be, Ichi. Me going on a while goose chase is hazardous to my health."

"You're a few years older than me, McManus, and I'm not even winded. Maybe you should stay off the fast food and actually exercise in the gym, not play on your phone like usual."

"Ah, what do you know, anyways," McManus said as they turned the corner to where Daven sat in waiting. "I plan on doing the exact same thing when I get home."

"I bet you are." Ichi gave a fox-like grin as they appeared, his katar sheathed to his lower back. He wore a sky-blue button up shirt, and a pair of black slacks with black dress shoes to match. Considering that he had never seen Ichi in anything informal, Daven began to wonder if Ichi even had any clothes that would be considered fit for combat. "Ah, Daven. I was told that you'd be here. I'm sure that you're in as much of hurry to get home as I am, so I'll try to make this quick." He unlocked his door, and held it open for Daven to go in.

Ichi followed with McManus behind him. "Oh, and I need a favor to ask of you, McManus-"

"Nope. I don't think so," he interrupted as he picked up a packet of honey drops from Ichi's desk and poured one into the palm of his hand. "Last time you told me that you wanted to ask for a favor, I wound up staying up here for longer than recommended time for staying at a school. I'm going home and rot my brains, and there ain't nothing that you can tell me that's going make me decide otherwise." He ate the honey drop before Ichi had a chance to tell him the favor.

Sighing, Ichi resealed the packet with a paperclip. "I was just going to ask him to go home and enjoy the rest of his day. So, Mister Hero-" he intertwined his fingers and held his hands in front of the lower half of his face. "You've been quite an elusive fellow. Ever since your departure, I've been looking for you for information and a proposition."

"If it involves me returning to Reiax academy, then this conversation is over."

"Oh, no, no. You misunderstand. I figured that it must have been something really bad to make you want to leave this place, considering that you learn how to basically control what makes you you. Though, since we're on the subject, why did you resign from our academy in the first place?" Daven fell silent. "If you don't want to tell me, I won't force you to."

"It's because of my ex-leader," he finally said. "We had a disagreement about something a month ago, and he..." his voice trailed off. Shaking his head, Daven continued. "Besides, I don't really need to learn how to control my power. I have a pretty good understanding of how to use it."

"And that is where you're wrong, my friend." Daven looked up in outrage, but Ichi, unfazed, continued. "Tell me, what do you know of your element? What abilities does your element have?"

That was simple. "The manipulation of electricity and fire."

Ichi's eyebrows arched. "Oh, so you're a Fire elemental, huh. Not only that, but you're one who's well versed in electrokenisis. It's a shame that you've only touched the tip of the iceberg that is the Fire elemental's power. I'm guessing that you aren't too familiar with technokenisis; the manipulation of electrical equipment, or magnokenisis, the manipulation of magnetic waves. Unless you're hacking into military equipment, neither of them are good for attacking purposes, but they both can play a very important part in being a well-versed Elemancer."

"I thought that we were here to discuss my involvement with the Siren, not to belittle me with my little knowledge of my element."

"I'm not trying to belittle you at all. In fact, I think it's amazing that you've learned the basic controls of fire and electricity with only a few days of teachings." Daven saw a glint in Ichi's eyes as he said, "Or, was it merely a few days?"

Scowling, Daven said, "My grandmother taught me how to control some of it whenever I first awakened it."

"And when did you awaken your elemental power? What caused it?"

Daven's scowl deepened. "My father caused it." He saw the fox-like grin disappear from Ichi's face. "He used to drink all of the time and abuse my mother and me. She wasn't any better though. She was possibly too high from drugs to feel any of it."

"I see," Ichi said with a hint of melancholy in his voice. "It must have been hard for you."

"It was, up until my thirteenth birthday. See, I began showing signs of being an Amian way before that, though I had no idea what was going on. Any time my mother saw that I was beginning to awaken, she'd get on to me, telling me that what I was doing was the devil's work and tried to force me to stop. Of course, I had no idea how to, so I did what usual made me calm down; go inside of the woods outside of my house and hit things with these two wooden swords that my deceased grandfather made for me.

"On my thirteenth birthday, however, my dad decided that I was too old for those pretend swords. He awoke me with a gift, wrapped in newspaper and tied together with a shoestring. I didn't know what to expect, considering that I didn't even ask him for anything. What I got was a box full of sawdust. He told me that it was time for me to become a man, and men didn't have pretend swords." He chuckled ruefully as he said, "The dumb bastard didn't even have the decency to even attempt to replace the swords, the only thing that I had to remember my grandfather by. After that, I just lost it. I didn't know what I was doing, or how I was shooting electricity from my hands. I just remember that I wanted everything to disappear. My house was burned down, and my father was hospitalized with third degree burns all over his body. As for my mother, I hadn't heard from her ever since.

"After that, I stayed with my grandmother for two years. She taught me how to control my anger, and how to have some control over fire and electricity. Then, she sent me to my cousin's house, who had even more to teach me. When I moved in with him, however, things were a little... off. He always had this glazed look in his eyes, and acted like he was in a trance whenever he was around that woman, Samantha. I didn't know what she was until she summoned the Edge Walker in Prescott. Once I found out what she was, I made a promise to myself to free him from her control."

Ichi pulled out a pen and a notepad. "And her name is Samantha?"

"Yes. Samantha Sonata. I stabbed her in her right bicep before she fled." He reached inside of his trench coat and pulled out a black, metal throwing knife. "This is the knife that injured her. Just in case you need proof."

"Alright. I appreciate your cooperation," Ichi said as he took the blade. As Daven stood, Ichi stopped him. "Oh, and Mister Daven. How do you feel about joining a small school in the Empire district? They have a much more lenient set of rules when it comes to Journeyman/Apprentice disagreements. In addition, they're much more tolerant than a school this size."

Daven stood by the door, his hand on the doorknob. "I'll think about it. Thank you for your concern," he said before he left the office.