Chapter 4
"…and then Morita showed up in front of me, and she blasted me for crying," Jimmy finished, his glasses reflecting the campfire's flames. Shin and Tomeka sat across from him, staring into the fire as well, contemplating as he finished what he knew about the "prophecy".
"So…basically we know nothing about this damn prophecy," Shin said. His teeth grit visibly in the firelight. Dipole snuggled deeper into Jimmy's shirt and Aelia played with the forest night fireflies farther off. "That's just great. Morita said that Notte can't do anything about fixing you either, so all we have to do is fulfill this prophecy and then I won't need to be associated again with you, or something like that."
"A prophecy," Tomeka repeated, playing with the campfire. She took a bit of it with her hand and juggled it between her hands. "Something doesn't seem right to me about this prophecy. We know Matsuo, we know Notte, and we know Morita… who was the boy?"
Jimmy shrugged. "I had never seen him before. He struck me as a fun-loving person, though."
Shin's head snapped up. "Did he have blue hair and a homicidally brave smile?"
Jimmy nodded, intrigued. Shin groaned. "Of course. It's Vincent."
"Who's Vincent?" asked Jimmy and Tomeka in unison. Jimmy's tone was full of curiosity – Tomeka's was full of disbelief and almost accusatory as if she should've known sooner. Shin flinched and said,
"His name is Norie Vincent. He's an air sien like Notte, only Notte is an Avatar." Jimmy jumped a little. Notte was an Avatar? That was new…then again, that would explain why they were summoning him to tell him about a prophecy. Jimmy silently cursed himself for not asking them about it either… what had those confusing words meant? He had memorized it already, but still.
"What's so special about Vincent?" Tomeka asked, startling Jimmy out of his reverie.
"Vincent is a hyper sien," Shin answered. He wiped his face with his sleeve from the sweat appearing on his forehead. "I wonder why he knew a piece of the prophecy."
Jimmy just shook his head. He got up and walked for the tent. He needed to be alone and think this over. There was just so much going on in his mind. So he was important in this prophecy or something…
Shin watched Jimmy go and just shook his head sadly. His locks turned snowy white as he shook his head and when he blinked his eyes they transformed into chlorophyll green. Tomeka leaned against him and whispered, "That Lexard…I think Morita's right."
Shin thought for a second, and then answered, "Maybe. But I don't think so – I think she was lying to us. That Lex- Jimmy. Jimmy was changed by the Mirage Orb, which tried to kill Notte. I think that the Mirage Orb is going to play a crucial role in this too."
"I think I'm going to go back home," Tomeka said softly. She stood up and Shin caught her arm.
"Don't leave me with the kid," Shin pleaded. "Please, Tomeka, are you mad at me?"
"No, not you," Tomeka answered sincerely. "I just need to sort some things out for a bit. I think I know what I'm supposed to do. But I'll be back. I swear, Shin."
Shin nodded wearily, and stood up as well. He put out the campfire and took Tomeka's arm. He escorted her the short distance to her house, and then paused briefly at the door to kiss her. Tomeka then glanced sadly at him, and closed the door softly. Shin felt a little happier and slightly more energized after their kiss and left for Jimmy.
This isn't SO bad, Shin thought to himself, Tomeka isn't that far away and she promised we'd meet up. Aelia would be able to lead her to us, no matter how far away we travel.
Then, a shriek ripped through the forest.
Shin broke into a sprint and he sped across the forest floor, panting heavily. He had left the Mirage Orb! What had he been thinking? He knew exactly what he had been thinking – he would only be gone for a second. He fought his way through the foliage and arrived at the campsite.
Jimmy was holding the Mirage Orb. His Mirage Orb. In a surge of fury Shin shot a bolt of fire towards the Lexard. The Mirage Orb was screaming – screaming for him. He had it with him the entire day – why would it need him now?
Then, he realized something to his horror. Jimmy's fingers – they were deep within the Mirage Orb. Green and blue light flashed around Jimmy, who was pale and looked unconscious. Shin rushed over and saw Jimmy absorb the fire blast. Then, something remarkable happened. Jimmy woke up, choking, and the Mirage Orb separated from his being. He fell back, and a spurt of fire erupted from his fingers.
Jimmy stared at the smoke coming off it, and then fainted, exhausted. Aelia loped over to Jimmy and nuzzled him worriedly. She turned to Shin who picked up the Mirage Orb, calming it. "He's out cold," Aelia reported. She made a grunt when Shin pocketed the Mirage Orb. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop, him, Master. But something doesn't add up here – was it but not so that when I carried him to you in Tomeka's house, you carried him over your shoulder? And he might've touched the Mirage Orb then?"
Shin was struck by this thought like lightning. No…it couldn't be…Shin felt the warm bulge where the Mirage Orb was. Could it be that Jimmy could have visions and see the phantoms meant for him and Tomeka through his Mirage Orb? It was possible – anything was possible nowadays.
Shin shook his head. He needed a full night's sleep on this. Wearily, he dragged Jimmy's body into the tent, which was now a light dim fire; good for sleeping in. Shin slept on the opposite side of the tent, and went to sleep, Aelia tucked in the space where his chest was.
Jimmy was having a nightmare. He had gone out to go to the bathroom and he had seen the Mirage Orb on the ground. He thought Shin had dropped it and was about to pick it up when his hand was suddenly glued to it. Then it started to shriek and he couldn't remember after that. But this pain – it was so intense and the darkness around him was pressing his ribs and crushing his body.
He wished he hadn't touched that Mirage Orb.
Then, he was hurtled straight into something short and blue. They went tumbling through what looked like white cotton candy – clouds, Jimmy thought lazily. Then, they landed in a heap, Jimmy on top of the boy.
"You!" Jimmy yelled, jumping up in surprise. "I'm so sorry – you're Vincent, right?"
Vincent's eyes were rolling around in circles. He shook his head from side to side, stretched his limbs, and then said sleepily, "Eh? Who're –?"
Then he got a good look at Jimmy. "Wait a second! You're the Jimmy Prophecy!"
"I'm the what?" Jimmy asked, looking around. He was sitting on clouds in the sky. He looked over the edge of the cloud he was sitting on and flinched. It was a bottomless pit of pink clouds to nothing. He certainly didn't want to fall off. "What's going on?"
"That's your favorite thing to say," Vincent commented. "I should be asking you that. You can't teleport here, this is my training grounds. There's no spell code for this area unless you're an air sien. Last I checked you were an earth sien/Lexard."
Jimmy looked down at the tip of his shoes. "Well, I kind of… might've…teleported here by use of an item."
Vincent cocked his head to one side. "Huh? Well, that doesn't make any sense. No item can change your chemical make-up unless you're a genius. Which you don't appear to be."
Jimmy snorted dismissively. "That's not the point. I don't get why I'm here or what that Mirage Orb did to put me here, but –"
"Mirage Orb?!" Vincent yelped. He leaped into the air, and landed a few miles away on a separate cloud. He began to make intricate hand-signals in the air, facing away from Jimmy. Jimmy stared at Vincent with a little bit of irritancy. He wasn't finished asking his questions.
"Is it true that you know a bit of my prophecy?" Jimmy shouted.
"Of course I do," Vincent replied calmly. He didn't even turn around to face Jimmy. His voice just reached him on a gust of wind. "What about it?"
"Before I get distracted by something weird, what are you doing?"
"I'm summoning Shin here," Vincent answered matter-of-factually. "If you got here because of the Orb then he should be able to teleport you back since he owns it."
"No!" Jimmy shouted, leaping forward. A wall of fire shot out from around his feet as he moved forward. The flames circled around Vincent, threatening to roast him if he moved again. Vincent pivoted in the air and stared at Jimmy in disbelief. Even Jimmy was staring at his feet. What just happened?
"You're a Hybrid Lexard?" Vincent screamed. He flew forward, just dodging the inferno that caught a bit of his cloak. A few embers remained on Vincent's cloak but they fell off as Vincent reached an incredible speed of Mach four. He landed perfectly in front of Jimmy without even a gust of wind, and added; "Now I'm curious. This is enough to keep me from calling Shin. How the hell did you do that?"
Jimmy flexed his fingers experimentally. Small embers appeared at his fingertips and danced around his hand. He shook it and the embers vanished in puffs of smoke. "I don't know," Jimmy admitted. Then he remembered the astonishing pain that had went through his hand – what had the Mirage Orb done to him?
"Wait!" Jimmy spoke up quickly, sensing Vincent was going to summon Shin again. "I have a few questions. One – what is the Mirage Orb?"
Vincent's face contorted into a shameful grimace. "I can't tell you that. Yet."
"Damn it," Jimmy hissed between his teeth. He thought carefully about his next question this time. "Fine then. What is Shin?"
Vincent paused here. Then, he smiled. "I suppose I can tell you some of it. He's going to survive this ordeal, unless you die. Does that make sense to you?"
Jimmy was flattened by this fact. "Shin doesn't like me. He hates me."
"Even if that's true, he needs you," Vincent said, smirking a bit. "Just as much as he needs Matsuo Ayumi and Methyl."
"Met- who?"
Vincent's eyes grew wide. He turned away hastily and said, "No one."
"I heard you say "may-thel"," Jimmy retorted accusatorily. "Who is he?"
"Methyl is a girl," Vincent growled. His pupils enlarged as he thought about something. He had to shake his head several times to wipe away the spell that was about to erase his memories. Cursing, Vincent turned to Jimmy. "Shoot. I changed the prophecy a bit by telling you about Methyl. Well, if hell's going to freeze over, might as well tell you about Matsuo. She'll be joining you real soon and Methyl too, okay?"
"Wait!"
But Jimmy landed back on his back, in the fire tent. Shin was sleeping on the other corner of the tent. It was nearly daylight. Jimmy cursed and stumbled out of the tent. Aelia bounced after him, and to his surprise, nuzzled his hand. "You going to go hunt?" she asked.
"Umm…" Jimmy hesitated. But then his stomach grumbled and gave away the answer.
Aelia nodded to it and volunteered sleepily, "I'll do it. You wait here and start the fire. Your chakra signal, by the way – it's been altered. What happened last night?"
Jimmy just shook his head honestly and replied, "I think I gained an element. I'll tell Shin."
But Aelia pressed her forehead to Jimmy's heart and paused there for a moment. Jimmy frowned. Was she listening to his heart? Then she pulled away and smiled toothily. "I read your memory. So you met Vincent – how quaint. And you gained the fire element – man, Shin is not going to be happy with that. Hybrid Lexards are tough to battle."
"And they don't get enough sleep for their own good," Vincent added, appearing behind Aelia. She let out a squeak and scurried off into the forest in her haste to leave. Much like Notte and Morita, he looked real, but a leaf passed right through his head.
"You're up," Vincent remarked dryly. "That complicates things a bit."
"So you're here to check on me again, right?" Jimmy asked in a bored tone.
"Well…" Vincent smiled guiltily at Jimmy. "Since you know too much about the prophecy I might have to erase your memories."
"WHAT!" Jimmy yelped, jumping away from Vincent's shadow. Vincent pursued Jimmy, his hand outstretched. Jimmy grabbed it, and twisted Vincent's arm. To his surprise, Vincent was strangely light, and twisted along with his arm. Vincent's face, however, changed.
It went from calm and apologetic to angry and frustrated. His other hand shot out and planted itself on Jimmy's brain. Jimmy froze, thinking that everything would be sucked out by that hand. Even Vincent looked triumphant. But nothing happened. Vincent's smile morphed into confusion and then bewilderment. Then, to anger again.
"I need to erase your memory, Jimmy!" Vincent snarled. He shaped his hands into a ball and a gust of spiraling air appeared in it. He shot it at Jimmy, barely a foot away. Jimmy caught the ball in his hands, and to his shock, it exploded into flames. This time the flames ate up the chakra of the attack and looped itself through the air around Vincent.
Vincent gaped as the fire didn't burn through his skin. It merely formed a strong and unbreakable lasso. The fire also wound itself around Vincent's hands, making his sien powers momentarily useless. Vincent glared at Jimmy. "Let me go, Jimmy! It's not like I'm going to take away all of your memories! Just the one where I told you about Methyl! You're not allowed to know about that."
Jimmy shook his head stubbornly. "No. I need this memory. I'm tired of not knowing anything."
"Come on, kid!" Vincent groaned, his expression pleading this time. "If Notte finds out I told you, or Morita, or even Shin…" He shuddered, but then resorted back to trying to get out of his bonds. "And this Fire thing, too. It's got to go. You seriously messed up the Prophecy earning this power."
"I'll make you a deal, then," Jimmy said, walking up to Vincent, who had stopped struggling. "We battle – if you win, I'll let you erase my memories and take away my fire ability. If I win, you will let me keep everything that you will take away AND you answer all my questions, even if they mess up this damn prophecy."
Vincent sneered, "Yeah right! How come you get more conditions than me? That's not fair at all!"
Jimmy sighed. "Okay, then, if you win, you also get to … umm… well what do you want?"
Vincent's face broke into a huge smile. "You lose then you also have to give me your Earth Noble."
"My what?" Jimmy asked blankly. "You know, I Awakened just a week ago. I came to this forest yesterday thinking that the Hybrid could explain this whole world to me. I mean, I had done a lot of reading in before I came here, but it was really sketchy. So what's an Earth Noble?"
"A Noble is the sien's master," Vincent explained. "Nobles eventually lead up to the Avatar, who add up to Zepetiyah. Basically whoever your Noble is, you can't disobey them for your life. It also seems that you must have a strong Noble because you're a fighting sien, a Lexard. That person must be a lot of fun and really strong, so I'd be glad to let my Noble eat it."
"Eat it?" Jimmy repeated, feeling blank and empty.
"When my Noble, Suki, eats your Noble, my Noble will become more powerful, and thus my powers will be enhanced, which means my Guardian's powers will be enhanced," Vincent explained. "But could you please release me from this bond? It's getting very uncomfortable."
"Oh!" Jimmy closed his fist. The fire evaporated and Vincent flew up into the air, shaking the embers off his cloak. "And I accept, I suppose. I don't know who my Noble is."
"It doesn't matter," Vincent said impatiently. "As long as you give me your permission to pursue your Noble, I'll have a Servant's Tracking ability, which will allow me to capture your Noble. How nice is that?"
Jimmy had a sinking feeling in his heart as he led Vincent to the river where Tomeka and Shin had been battling yesterday. He didn't know much about battling – he just knew that he had to stay alive. What if he killed Vincent or Vincent killed him? Lexards couldn't be killed unless they were in battle.
Before he could chicken out, Shin appeared. He trudged into the middle of the river, small steps of fire allowing him to stand above the current. Jimmy stood on one side of the river, Vincent on the other. Vincent was hopping from foot to foot. Shin's hair was a messy light blue and his eyes were a gloomy orange.
"I heard what you were talking about – with the battle," Shin said loud enough for them to hear. "I'll referee. Good luck Vincent. I'll time you two for five minutes, and whoever gets the other unconscious wins. No leaving this forest, and no Guardians."
Shin turned to Jimmy. His eyes weren't cold, but accepting. "So you're like me, huh," Shin said. He indicated Jimmy's red fingers. "I saw the fire lasso you made. I guess the Mirage Orb thinks you need it or something. Whatever the case is good luck."
These small words energized Jimmy. He nearly cried again. Shin was accepting him! No longer was he the outcast of this traveling group – he was friends with Shin, even if it was somewhat a distant friendship.
Shin sent a small ball of fire into the river. As the smoke exploded over the battle field, Shin announced loudly and clearly:
"BEGIN!"
