Only The Good Die Young
A/N: I'm supposed to be updating Knightfall and/or Deepwater. But I'm not. There is a problem with this. Hrm. Ah well. I'm workin' on 'em, I promise, it's just taking a while. Also SCHOOL EWWW. Well, this is back when Minerva was teaching the first generation of Xiaolin Warriors. This is not intended to be romantic, trust me. TheXGrayXLady owns Minerva, Christy Hui owns Xiaolin Showdown and I used to own a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Therapy ice cream. Enjoy!
They say there's a Heaven for those who will wait
Some say it's better but I say it ain't
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun...
You know that only the good die young!
"Again," Minerva commanded. Chase's eye twitched, and the woman held back a smile. True, she was allowed to enjoy his pain, but she wasn't allowed to show it. Pesky Temple rules.
"Why can't I have a break?" Chase asked, motioning to the charred practice dummies littering the room. "I've been at this for hours!"
"And you still can't do it right," Minerva retorted, glancing at her nails.
"It's Heylin magic. I'm not supposed to do it right."
Minerva chuckled derisively. "Of course you're not. And I'm the queen of England. Now do it again, and this time, actually try to convince me that you're not another weakling."
Chase growled under his breath and turned back to the least-scorched dummy. He narrowed his eyes, muttering incantations under his breath. Minerva frowned; he needed to be at the thought-only level of combat magic. Speaking the spells took valuable time that he wouldn't have on the battlefield. Green fire flared to life in his palms, hovering just above his skin. It was magic, and he had a decent level of control, so it didn't burn his hands, but Minerva could read the fear in his eyes. That would have to go as well. "Don't be afraid of the darkness," she said smoothly, her voice registering with him just enough to make him listen, but not cutting in so he'd lose his concentration. "Embrace it! Let it seep into you so you can control it. Show the magic that you are in control, and it will listen, but you cannot be afraid." The green fire- green, the color of will, what he'd need to get past this- grew from a tiny sparks to a crackling blaze. Minerva grinned. Better. "Now let it go, but direct it! Don't release your hold entirely until it's done what you want it to!"
"I-" Indecision flickered in his amber eyes. The green of the fire reflected in his irises, and for a split second, Minerva swore his pupils turned to slits. But then the fire left his hands, rocketing towards the dummy with no control, and exploded in a flurry of heat. Minerva flicked her wrist, and the fire touched neither her nor Chase. The room was not so lucky; the walls were black with scorch marks, and green fire danced every wooden surface available. Minerva sighed and moved her hand over the room, and the all the fire simultaneously snuffed out.
"You couldn't decide."
"Wha-" Chase's question was cut off when he turned to face Minerva and found her glaring down at him, real anger in her eyes.
"You. Couldn't. Decide. You felt the Heylin magic, felt it working, but you were too damn indecisive! You couldn't make the move you needed to, you lost control and if it was a real battle you would have been killed and that would have been the end of it. You just failed, Chase. How does it feel?" Her voice was sharp as a knife, her eyes ablaze with anger and disappointment and resentment. But resentment at what?
"I…"
"Go on, defend yourself," she spat. "Give me one good reason not to see you as the worthless child you are!"
"I AM NOT!" Chase screamed abruptly, fire roaring to life in his hands. He lunged forward, the fire catching on Minerva's hair. She ignored it, stepping aside to let him hit the floor.
"You're not what? Any good? I'll attest to that," she said, kicking him viciously in the torso. He stood too quickly, his head throbbing, and the fire blazed along his arms. He screamed intelligibly and the fire shot from his palms, blazing towards Minerva. The woman crossed her arms in front of herself, and the fire stayed just an inch away from her skin.
"I am not a failure!" Chase roared. "I am the best apprentice here!" Minerva dropped to the floor, swinging her legs around to kick Chase's legs out from under him. He hit the ground again, and Minerva leapt to her feet. Chase was faster this time, but Minerva was fastest, and she sped by, yanking his hair. She didn't pull any out, but it was a weak spot and both of them knew it. Chase was really mad now.
"That's a lie and everyone knows it," Minerva replied, snapping her fingers. A bolt of lightning shot into Chase's back, and he was jolted forward. He caught himself before he was slammed into the wall, however, and he used the wall as a springboard to jump off of and slam into Minerva. Now she was the one to hit the ground, but that didn't stop her. "We all know that Guan will always be better than you," she whispered, grinning. Chase gave an animalistic scream of rage and gripped her neck, his eyes wild. He squeezed, and Minerva could feel her lungs beginning to collapse. She just kept grinning, though, and Chase's fury increased.
"Why are you smiling?" he roared, clutching her throat tighter.
"You… let it in…" she hissed, eyes half-closed. Chase's eyes widened, and he fell back, realizing what he had almost done. He could still feel the blind fury coursing through his veins, every insult he had endured, all the rage bottled up and never let go, every little biting remark… he had used Heylin fire. He had almost killed someone. And it had felt good. It had felt right, like the fire was made solely to inhabit him, like the pain of others was made to quench the pain he felt. He had wanted to kill her. He would have, without hesitation. And all because she had made him angry.
"I'm not- I'm not one of them-" he choked, standing up and backing away. Slowly, Minerva stood, steadying herself on the wall. She smiled darkly, her eyes glinting.
"No, Chase. You're far worse." Chase stared at her in fear for a moment, then ran from the blackened room. Minerva laughed quietly, standing straight and fixing her hair. "Oh, the sinners are much more fun."
You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty, we ain't too proud
We might be laughin' a bit too loud
But that never hurt no one
(Darlin', only the good die young!)
This got dark. O_O I didn't plan for it to be so dark, but here it is. In other news, I got to draw a goatee, gel back my hair and be Tony Stark at school today.
Emma: She was fabulous.
True dat. Though I also wore an arc reactor, and a bunch of people just came up and pressed it 'cause it lit up and made noise, so that was kind of awkward. 'Cause, y'know, I'm a lady Spadey, and the reactor was… yeah…
Emma: The moral of the story is, REVIEW!