(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 53

"Okay, who's next?" Kiku asked as her water flowed from Loyalty's forehead into her hands. She, along with Ichi, sat in front of a hospital bed in the infirmary with Loyalty's team and the Sirens accompanying them. Ichi appeared lost in thought as he began to mend to Emma's wounds. He'd been silent for the ten minutes that they had been there.

Joel lied down in front of Kiku as Ichi finally spoke. "So, let me try to make sense of all of this. You all said that you were attacked by Aggaron?"

"Not necessarily attacked. More along the lines of him showing up after the first Siren was apprehended." Garnet paused as Emma winced. She grimaced, exhaling sharply out of her nose before nodding to Ichi to continue.

"Wasn't there supposed to be someone who was supposed to fight against him?" Emma asked through her teeth.

"You mean the King of Elements?" Jeremy asked. "He was supposed to be awakened whenever Aggaron does. The fact that he hasn't been found yet worries me."

Kiku took a side glance at Ichi. "I wouldn't worry much about it."

"What do you mean?" Joel asked.

Ichi cleared his throat as he eyed down Kiku. "They deserve the right to know-"

"Whenever he's properly trained," Ichi calmly interrupted. "If they knew now, the only thing that would happen is that they would be more worried about if he's strong enough and giving him special treatment that he does not need."

"And what about when the news gets around that Aggaron is alive and on the move?" Kiku asked with an edge. "What about the remaining Elemancers who were fighting before they showed up?"

"I was under the assumption that all of the Elemancers were too preoccupied with Edge Walkers whenever Miss Emma here was battling the renegade, correct Emma?" Emma refused to speak.

"But it's his brother-"

Kiku gasped as soon as she said it. Silence befell both Ichi and Kiku as they looked at each other with widened eyes, looking as if they had forgotten to breath. The team, including Emma and Garnet, all turned their eyes to Loyalty, assuming it was his brother that she mentioned. The only guys that was in the room, save Ichi, was Joel, Jeremy, Chris, and Loyalty, who was the only one they knew that had not just one brother, but two. Loyalty himself looked at Kiku, who didn't take her eyes off of Ichi. "What did you say?"

Ichi took a breath as he refocused his attention on Emma's wounds. "We'd plan to wait until he was ready before we told you."

"What do you mean? Who the hell is 'we'?" Loyalty asked.

"Both Raheem and Abigail were told by him; by Ke'Undre," Kiku explained, down casting her eyes to the floor. "He's the one. He's the King of Elements."

"Dre? I just got off the phone with him. Why the hell didn't he tell me?"

"Toney told him not to tell anyone," Ichi said. "He actually wasn't supposed to even tell his parents, but I can see why he cracked. That's a lot of responsibility to have and without being able to talk to anyone about it."

"So, what do we do now?" Alycia asked. "I mean, with Ke'Undre?" she looked over to Loyalty, who looked too dumbfounded to speak.

"The same thing that you've been doing; nothing." Kiku kept her eyes on the gashes on Joel's back. "Since you all were the only one who's seen Aggaron, and know of the King of Element's identity, I'm trusting you all to change nothing of how you've been treating him and his group." The group nodded before they reflected on the new information in silence.

~~~~~~

Thoughts rushed through Dre's mind as he walked home, thoughts about Aggaron awakening and attacking Loyalty and his group. It made no sense; Hiro said that Aggaron wouldn't attack until after seven years. Why would he attack now? Was the prediction wrong and their battle actually take place before he could even graduate, despite him not even being able to tap into Hiro's power? He shivered from the sudden gust of cold wind. Dre pulled his hood over his head.

There was something that was making even less sense. If Aggaron did indeed return, why didn't he attack Dre instead of attacking Loyalty? Dre was the King of Elements after all. It would make more sense to attack him when he's at such a weak state rather than wait until he has a chance to kill him.

He turned the corner to Hall Street and froze in place. "Whoa." A dense fog covered his house, swallowing the streetlight behind his house. "Looks like I'm heading to Michael's." As he turned and took a step, he felt an overwhelming presence stop him in his tracks, no doubt Hiro. Instinctively, he reached for his sword at his hip, grabbing air. Sighing, he picked up a flimsy stick from a neighbor's ditch. What a stick would do against Aggaron, Dre had no idea. He supposed that it was better than going in unarmed.

As he snuck down the street, he felt the cold stab through his jacket. Squinting against the cold, he pulled his sleeves over his hands, trying feebly to protect them from freezing. He heard low, indecipherable mumbling from within the fog. Dre tightened his grip on the branch as he stepped into his yard.

The grass crunched under his boots, assumedly frozen by the mist. That relaxed him a bit, considering the only person he knew that could freeze with mist was his father. The only thing that didn't ease his worry was the fact that his father was apparently asleep at the moment. That could only mean one thing.

"Assassin."

Pressing his body against the wall of his house, he shimmied towards the backyard and peeked around the corner. An outline of a person formed in the fog, moving his arms in slow, fluid motions. "Oh crap," Dre breathed, making himself flat against the wall. Breathing heavily through his nose, he clinched the stick with both hands. With the element of surprise on his side, he realized that he only had one chance. He had to sneak up behind the assassin and knock him out with one swing. Dre nodded to himself before he ducked out of the corner.

Walking carefully across the frozen grass, he held the stick to his side, preparing to swing towards the intruders head. He kept his unblinking eyes glued to the person's head, despite them burning from the cold. Dre walked on the balls of his feet, careful of the grass crunching beneath them until, at last, he was within the reach of the figure. At full strength, Dre swung, breaking the stick across the person's shoulder.

The fog flowed back into the man's hands. Without crying out, Ian turned to Dre, looking furious. "You out your damn mind?"

Astonished, Dre dropped the broken stick. "Sorry, Ian," he pleaded. "I thought you were an assassin."

"An assassin?" Ian repeated. "Man, I'm out here practicing. I've got an assessment test tomorrow."

"We have an assessment test tomorrow?"

"Not we. I." Ian glared at Dre as he rubbed his shoulder. Ignoring Dre's apologies, he continued. "I've got an assessment test for the Kurai Elites and without Rose there to cheer me up, I've got to do this on my own." Sighing, he leaned against the tree, raking his fingers through his braids. "I'm such an idiot."

"No, you're just... intelligently challenged." Dre hoped that would cheer Ian up.

It didn't.

"W-why don't you call Rose and apologize?"

"I tried, on multiple occasions. I always get the voicemail. She's pretty pissed off."

Could be because you joked about your death. "So, is that why you're wearing Uncle Marcus's uniform?"

Ian looked down at the uniform. "This is the Kurai Elite attire. Uncle Marc heard that I was going to try and apply for them, and he gave this to me to get used to."

Dre nodded. "Try not to kill yourself out here." He walked up the stairs to the back porch and entered the house. Dinner was already cooked and sitting on the top of the oven; spaghetti with sliced sausage, mashed potatoes, collard greens, and garlic toast. Seeing the food reminded him that he hadn't eaten since noon. He hurriedly fixed his plate and ate before showering. After the shower, he fed Blitz a treat and texted Kimmy until he fell asleep.