Chapter 3

The next morning, Ryan dragged himself out of bed and got dressed. He went downstairs to find Mom getting ready to leave and Ara was eating some cereal. He sat down across from Ara as Mom placed a bowl of cereal in front of him. They ate silently and Ara got up and started eating an apple when she finished. Ryan on the other hand walked back up to his room to get his backpack.

While he was getting his stuff, he noticed Ara's book still sitting on his desk. He still didn't exactly believe Ara about the whole battle thing, but he was interested in the strange symbols that were in the book.

He heard the garage open and a car drive out. His mom was off to work. Ryan tucked the book under his arm and walked downstairs.

"Hey Ara!" he called from the doorway.

Ara peeked out from the kitchen.

"Is it okay if I take this to school with me? I want to look into these symbols more." He said, holding up her book.

Ara made a face, "I don't think that's a good idea. There could be other Mamodo out there, and they won't hesitate to attack if they see you alone with the book." She said.

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Relax, I'm pretty sure I would notice if someone was watching me." He said and walked out the door before Ara could say another word.

Ryan kept the book under his arm as he walked to school and looked at whenever he got the chance during classes. He looked through the whole book and the only words he could was where they turned blue. He tried using the computer in the library but couldn't find any language that even resembled the symbols. Before he knew it, the day had already ended. Since it was Friday, Ryan started the long walk home right away instead of staying after.

As he walked through an empty street he looked at the book one more time before placing it in his backpack.

"Emubao!"

Ryan was blown forward as a booming sound came from behind him. Ryan got up, picked up his backpack and looked behind him to see a black mark burned into the sidewalk from where he last stood. Two figures than came forward from the smoke.

They were two girls; one looked about Ara's age, had bright red hair that was tied into a long braid, and piercing red eyes that reminded Ryan of Ara's blue eyes. She wore an orange dress and yellow shoes; she closely resembled a flame.

The girl next to her looked like she was 19 or 20, had long black hair, and wore a blue tank top, jeans and black and white sneakers. Bu that wasn't what Ryan really noticed. In the black haired girl's hands was a scarlet book that looked just like Ara's and it was glowing with a warm orange glow.

The girl holding the book smirked,

"Nice shot Rufina," she said.

The red haired girl smiled evilly,

"Don't compliment me yet; let's take care of this guy and his book first Nina." She said and held up her hand with her palm facing Ryan.

The girl called Nina smiled as the book began to glow more intently.

"Emubao!"She yelled.

The other girl, Rufina, smiled as her palm lit up. A split second later an explosion of flames erupted in front of Ryan as if a plane had just dropped a bomb on the sidewalk. Ryan flew back and slammed onto the concrete ground. He could feel bruises forming on his arms and legs and a large scratch on his cheek. The raw skin stung from his touch as he struggled to get up.

'No! Ara was right!' he thought as he mentally kicked himself for not listening.

Ara had warned him not to bring the book and now he was going to get blown up by another Mamodo, or worse.

"Emubau!" Nina yelled and another explosion came from behind him, so closely he almost feel the flames licking his back.

He flew forwards again, and fell on his face as he slid across the sidewalk. He tasted blood on his lip and felt a little dizzy since his forehead had just smacked the ground. His backpack lay in front of him, with Ara's book peaking out of it. Ryan reached and grabbed it,

'They'll just keep coming until the battle is over! And if I let the book get destroyed…Ara's gone for good!' He thought frantically.

He managed to get to his knees, but the enemy had already sighted the book.

"Finish him Nina!" Rufina ordered as she held up both her hands this time.

Ryan turned just in time as Nina yelled,

"Fleigaru!"

A concentrated stream of red hot flames shot toward Ryan from the Mamodo's hands. Ryan tried to run, but his body was too shaken from the explosions. He clutched Ara's book to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the flames to consume him and the book. But the flames never came. He looked up to see Ara in front of him with her arms outstretched, taking the full brunt of the flames with her entire body.

"Ara!" he cried in horror.

After what seemed like hours the flames subsided and Ara lowered her arms. Ara quickly turned to Ryan and knelt down,

"You okay?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that!" Ryan answered.

There were burns on the girl's face and the front of her blue hooded sweatshirt was black as coal.

"Don't worry, my body is stronger than yours,"

Ara got up and turned back to Rufina and Nina,

"Mamodo are made to withstand these kind of things."

"Aw, isn't that sweet Rufina? The kids Mamodo showed up to save the day," Nina said.

"Who cares, this will make the fight much more interesting," Rufina sneered as she raised her hands again,

"and once this girl is done I'll be one step closer to being the Mamodo King."

Ara gritted her teeth,

"You haven't changed at all Rufina; you're still as stuck up and arrogant as ever."

Rufina smiled, "Well, well; Ara Waterlily. I thought you looked familiar. I'm surprised to see you still in the battle. But that's about to change really fast!"

Nina's book began to glow again. Ara turned to Ryan,

"I hate to drag you into this, but we have to fight! You won't be safe unless we beat them!" she said.

Ryan frowned and looked at the book. Did he really want to get involved in this? He did kind of owe Ara for saving him from the fire, but something kept tugging at his mind.

"Did…..did you protect me…..just because I have your book?" he asked slowly.

Ara put on a confused face,"What? I couldn't care less about that book!"

Ryan looked up at her in surprise, "But…..I thought you wanted to become King." He said.

"I do, but I don't want you to suffer because of me; I was so worried when you left this morning that I followed you to school so I could keep an eye out for anyone who wanted to hurt you. I want to protect you. Your safety is much more important than this stupid fight; because we're friends aren't we?" Ara asked with a small smile.

Ryan's eyes widened; it had been so long since someone considered him a friend. He couldn't help but feel moved by what Ara had said. Rufina on the other hand was getting impatient,

"I've had enough of this mushy talk! Get them Nina!"

"Fleigaru!" Nina yelled and the pillar of flames shot toward Ara and Ryan.

Ryan got to his feet and Ara faced the oncoming flames.

"Partners?" Ara asked.

"Partners!" Ryan agreed and opened the book that began to glow bright blue.

"You know what to do!" Ara said.

Ryan nodded, "You bet! The first spell! Aris!" he yelled.

Ara's eyes once again became blank and glowed blue. Her mouth unhinged and the blast of ice cold water fired out. They hit the flames and both spells disappeared in an even match. Rufina gritted her teeth and put one hand down,

"Nina!" she yelled.

"Emubao!" Nina yelled.

Ara ran toward Ryan, "What're you-" Ryan stuttered as Ara grabbed him by the waist and jumped a few yards away as the explosion went off near where they were just standing. Ara put him down and faced they faced Nina and Rufina who started towards them.

"I know Rufina's explosion spell can only work within a certain range, so if you stay far enough away she shouldn't be able to hit you." Ara said.

Ryan nodded in understanding then started to think, "We need to get closer; that fire spell is too hot for your water spell to get through from a distance." He said.

"Leave that to me, I'll charge in and you can cast the spell when I get close enough. But make sure I'm facing Rufina because I can't control where to aim the spell." Ara said.

"Okay and I'll try to keep my distance so that explosion spell can't hurt me," Ryan agreed.

Ara nodded and began to run towards Rufina.

"Fleigaru!" Nina yelled.

Rufina shot the streams of fire at Ara who easily dodged every one. Eventually, she was only a few feet away from the red-haired Mamodo.

"Now Ryan!" Ara yelled.

"ARIS!" Ryan yelled as loud as he could.

"Fleigaru!" Nina yelled at the last minute.

The two spells clashed and stayed suspended between the two Mamodo, both trying to overcome the other. Ryan could feel Ara's power draining as Rufina's fire spell began to overpower Ara's water spell.

'Don't give up Ara!' Ryan thought, 'you've come this far and gave it your all, now I'm going to help you win this battle!'

Ara's book glowed brighter than ever as Ryan felt the power from his heart flow into the pages like a river. As if Ara had heard every word, the water spell grew bigger until it completely overwhelmed the fire spell.

"NO!" Rufina cried as the fire spell disappeared and the water slammed into her and Nina.

Ara's eyes returned to normal as Rufina and Nina lay on the ground. Rufina's scarlet book lay on the ground, ablaze in yellow flames. They watched as Rufina's body became transparent and slowly dissolved away. Rufina gave Ara one last look before her book completely burned away, taking her with it. Nina looked at Ara in fear before running away as fast as she could.

Ryan grinned as the book stopped glowing, "We…did it," he said slowly.

"Ryan!" Ara cried in alarm as he fell to his knees.

Ara caught him just in time before he could hit the ground. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, just a little winded,"

he looked at all the damage Rufina's fire spells had done. Parts of the sidewalk were burnt black and small flames burned on small patches of grass.

"So….this is the Great Battle huh?" he asked.

Ara nodded, "Yep, and this just the beginning; there are lots more Mamodo out there who are even stronger than Rufina."

Ryan had a feeling she was going to say that. He and Ara were partners now, and they seemed to have a stronger connection than any other Mamodo. He had to admit, he thought that all Mamodo were the same; but Ara was much different. She just wanted to do the right thing and protect her friends from the battle, not caring if she won or lost. But Ryan could tell, Ara wanted more than anything to be King, but she wasn't willing to sacrifice anything precious to her to make it happen.

"Then we'll have to get even stronger with every battle," he said.

Ara faced him in surprise.

"This battle may be pretty dangerous, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you become King. Your world needs a ruler like you Ara; someone who cares about everyone and does the right thing and won't sacrifice anything,"

Ryan smiled, "You can count on me."

Ara smiled back and nodded, "Thanks Ryan. And I promise, I'll protect you until the battle is over."

Ara stood up and held out her hand, which Ryan took. Ryan was still pretty worn out from the battle, so he leaned on Ara as they slowly walked back home.

"What are we going to tell your mom?" Ara asked.

"Just tell her I got into a little fight at school. I don't think she'll be too happy about me joining a war with you." Ryan answered.

They both laughed softly as the sun shone above them. This was just the beginning of their long journey.

A journey to become King.

AN:

Hey, sorry for the long wait! I was hoping to update yesterday, but fanfiction wasn't letting me log on :( I hope you liked their first battle. It was a little easy, but battles get a lot more complicated when the Mamodo are stronger. Remember, I am still collecting OCs so keep that in mind! See ya!