(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 36

After showering, brushing his teeth, and feeding Blitz, Dre laid in his bed, looking up at the dark ceiling. He intertwined his fingers behind his head as he fantasized about what his date would be like with Kimmy. Could she actually have a thing for him, like McManus constantly told him? He grinned before shaking his head. That couldn't, in a million years happen. It was way too good to be true. Then again, just being able to go on a date with her was a miracle in itself, even if he didn't know what to do on it. "Say, Blitz." The snowy-white pup's head popped up, looking at Dre with its lime green eyes. "You probably had more experience with this type of stuff. What would you do on a date?" Blitz cocked his head to the side before laying it back on the pillow.

I'm asking a puppy for dating advice, he thought to himself before he felt sleep creep up on him.

In The World Where Titans Sleep, Hiro sat on a grassy hill overlooking the endless mirror of a world, leaning on a lone tree with his arms crossed. The floor around the hill shimmered like water. Dre quickly worked his way up the hill and stood beside the former king. "Got something on your mind, Hiro?"

"You've got a pretty interesting family. It's almost funny, actually." He snickered. "Not as funny as this train wreck of a 'date' that you're going on tomorrow," he laughed, almost not able to make it through the sentence.

Dre frowned. "All because of you. If this screws up my friendship with Kim, I'm blaming you until the day I die. If you hadn't given me that false courage, I wouldn't have to go through this humiliating catastrophe tomorrow."

Hiro turned to Dre, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about, kid? I only unlock fragments of your potential. That was all on you."

"Me?"

"Yep. I had nothing to do with you having the self-esteem to ask Kim out on a date. Nor did I have anything to with you breaking things off with the Siren. I only sat back here and watched over you. If anything, you should blame yourself for tomorrow."

"Why is that? I didn't even start feeling like this until I found out I was the King of Elements."

Hiro threw back his head and laughed. "You think that's odd?" He pushed himself from the side of the tree and turned to Dre. "You always put yourself down before you found out what you were. You entrapped yourself in a relationship with a woman that you hated so you wouldn't feel alone. You probably even tried to change yourself so others would like you. And why? Just so you'd feel accepted. That was until you met Megumi. And started talking with Kim again. And until your group formed. Once you were accepted by those people, those who'd sworn to stay by your side, was when your eyes started opening."

Dre could only stand there and let Hiro's words flow through his mind like a rushing river. He stood, mouth agape. "Well, that's my take on it, anyway," Hiro continued before he patted Dre's arm.

"Has this ever happened to you? Dating, I mean," he added to Hiro's bewildered stare.

"Dating? No. There was someone that I loved though." He sighed, before sitting on the grassy hill. Dre sat adjacent to him. "She was with me in the Adranés camp, though she was the daughter of one of the sages. We used to talk to each other all the time until I found out that my element could be awoken and I left the camp. She didn't even say good-bye.

"And then one day, after I became a Voyager-level Journeyman, there was a distress signal from the camp. I found that it was attacked, and everything was destroyed. Since there were no teleportation pads there, I had to travel for quite a while to get there, and I knew that I wouldn't get back on time with as much energy as I had. So I camped a few miles from the camp.

"While I was preparing my dinner, I heard talking from a nearby forest. They were conspiring to steal this from me." He gestured to the Suscéptor shimmering in the sunlight on his belt loop. "I easily knocked them out, and tied them up in a tree until the authorities arrived until I heard one of them call my name. Sure enough, it was her; my old friend Mariko. She didn't take being cooped up in a tree very well, so I let her down. She was still pretty sore with me for leaving her at the village, and she was too stubborn to accept my food. Once she finally did, though, our old friendship was rekindled."

"Did you ever ask why she was angry with you?"

Hiro ruefully shook his head. "That was one of the many things that I was unable to mention. One of the other was how I felt about her." He slid the sheathed katana from his belt and handed it to Dre. "If you've ever get a life lesson out of me, let it be this one. I've had feelings for her two months after I was reunited for her, but I kept my feeling inside until it was too late. She got possessed by Aggaron, and unfortunately I had no choice but to defend myself. Once you realize your feelings for Kim, never let anyone try to pluck her away from you. Protect her, even at the risk of your own like, like I should've done with Mariko."

Dre froze as he looked at the shimmering, crystal-like sword, his breathing labored. He couldn't imagine what it was like having to kill the woman you love. It was especially true for someone like Kimmy. Someone so peaceful, so kind. He wouldn't allow himself to be in the same situation. His heart pounded uncomfortably in his chest, almost audible as he opened his mouth to speak. "I refuse to let her die."

A blue light shone from both sides of Dre's peripheral, as he felt a smooth tube-like object fill both hands. He didn't need to look at it to know what it was. He held the Suscéptor proudly in his right hand, in his left was a cross-shaped shield made of the same cyan material. Hiro's dumbfounded expression said it all. He raised the sword over his head, point aimed at Hiro. "Help me to protect her."

Hiro was still speechless, his jaw slack. Then, he grinned as he freed the blade from its scabbard. "So, that's your spark," he simply stated before he slid his feet shoulder width apart, holding his Suscéptor in front of him with both hands. The two warriors stared in each other's eyes. "Fine then. Let the training commence."

Both swordsmen ran at each other; Dre rushed low, leading with his shield. Hiro bellowed as he sent the sword at Dre's head. The shield reverberated down his forearm as the sword clashed with the shield. He threw Hiro's sword off before following up with a jab towards his chest. Spinning with the momentum of his deflected sword, Hiro narrowly dodged and countered with a kick to Dre's ribs. He fell to his knees, looking back just in time to see Hiro thrusting the katana towards his neck. He rolled out of the sword's path and hastily made his way back onto his feet.

Dre rushed at him again and swung; Hiro ducked low before gracefully sidestepping a vertical slash. With each swing, Hiro effortlessly dodged out of harm's way, moving as calm as a leaf in the breeze, yet as precise as a choreographed dance. It seemed as if he was three moves ahead of Dre.

Swiftly, he vaulted backwards away from Dre, sheathed his blade, and pressed both palms on the ground. The instant he did, he forcibly skated them away from Dre, sliding the earth from under him. Dre crashed to the ground, and Hiro soared towards him, like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

As if it moved on its own, his hand aimed at the airborne Hiro, and he expelled fire towards him. He heard Hiro gasp over the fire jetting from his hand, and just before the fire reached him, Hiro held a hand out and intercepted it with a blast of fire on his own. With the force of the fire jetting him backwards, Hiro extinguished it and landed on the mirrored ground at the base of the hill. As sudden as he landed, he thrust the sword into the sheath and sent another blast of fire careening towards Dre. amyntikós

With a gulp, Dre slid the Suscéptor in the head of his shield before throwing a beam of fire down at Hiro. Both beams clashed in midair, expelling a simmering wave of heat from the blast radius of the collision. "What's the matter, King Ke'Undre?" Hiro asked, sounding as if he was mocking Dre. "What happened to all that power you had when you were proclaiming that you would protect Kim?" Dre felt a burning sensation rise up from his core, flooding down his arms to his hands. "If you want to protect the girl, then prove it!"

With a cry, Dre released the burning in his hands as a blue flare engulfed the fire. More! He thought to himself, clenching his teeth. The heat from the colliding fires was almost smothering, but he had something to prove. To Hiro, and to himself. I can do more! Fira flamed from his hands, forcing Hiro's beam of fire back slightly. "I can do so much more!" he roared as a blinding light obstructed his view.

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