Author's Note: My head hurts... Enjoy!
Chapter 20 – Flame Heresy
Val blinked several times, unsure of her surroundings. Around her was a strange swirling darkness that moved almost like water. Though the only reason she could even see anything was thanks to a giant glowing snake curled up in front of her, its ice blue eye staring at her. Instead of addressing the creature, Val decided a more pressing concern was her hair that had grown black.
"Ah, it did go back to normal after losing my mana," she muttered quietly until the snake got irritated of being ignored. It lifted its body up to tower over the girl.
"Child of Denif, do you know who I am?" The snake's voice spoke like a thunder clap, deep and with a crack at the end. Val twirled a finger around her bangs as she stared at the snake. She eyed the glowing silver body of the creature that spoke.
"Nope, not a clue."
The snake seemed dejected by the bluntness but quickly regained its composure as it answered its own question for Val.
"I am Noah of Water, the El Beast of-"
"I get it, Water. Now what did you do to me?" Val interrupted rudely. Noah paused for a moment to glare down at her before it moved on.
"I've done nothing. I was just relaxing in here until the El brought you," the snake explained as it rested its head down onto its scaly body, keeping an eye on Val. Val looked around again, taking note of the absolute nothing around her.
"So this is a spiritual construct made by the El to house souls connected to its influence?" she inquired calmly. Noah stared at her silently for a couple moments and then opened its mouth.
"You're a wordy little human. But I suppose that's right. My flesh has been gone for over ten years now. The only thing I have to remember it is my missing eye," Noah stated before it turned its head to show its missing right eye.
"Is it a trend for animals to be missing an eye?" Val asked with a grimace. Noah let out a loud laugh in response.
"Do you speak of Yaksha? Ha, that little lizard... I wouldn't say he deserved to lose his eye though. I gave mine to my disciple... who then lost it to the girl who killed me. My soul then found its way here where I've been watching over Hamel since."
Val disregarded the snake beast's sad look and continued her questioning.
"I heard Yaksha lost his eye from fighting the El Masters after destroying towns? How did he not deserve it?" she asked while she crossed her legs and sat down in front of the snake. Noah turned its head slightly to gaze upwards.
"He may have destroyed towns, but he killed none. The El Masters fought with Yaksha because the lord of the region demanded it. Sound familiar to you, 'arsonist'?" Noah spoke, and made Val wince over her similar past. Noah smirked at the girl's discomfort and continued to speak.
"Yaksha's race, the dragons. They are a peaceful race who stayed away from humans in the region you know as Bethma. One day, a man came to the dragons and tried to get them to fight the humans. He spoke of peace created from the terror the dragons would cause. Naturally, the dragons refused. The man then used a heinous magic born from Calsifer: the Curse of Control."
Val perked up as she grew more interested in the story now. She sat up straight, as she had started to slouch from boredom. Noah noticed this and gave a dry chuckle before he kept his tale moving.
"The curse was one of Calsifer's favorites so we beasts knew of it immediately. It latches onto the mana of its victim and controls them like a puppet. However, the human man made an error. The curse only works as it's designed if the target has an internal source of mana. Only humans and demons have such a thing."
"So without a source to control, what happened? Did the curse just fizzle out?" Val asked and subconsciously reached for her pocket for a lollipop until she remembered she wasn't wearing her jacket. Noah let out a deep sigh.
"No, the curse found something else to attach itself to: the dragon's core. But since it could not control the dragons, only the curse's side effect worked on them." Noah saw Val about to ask what it was, so the snake quickly said it before she could ask. "The side effect is the amplification of obsession. The dragons were obsessed with peace, so they became unable to do anything that would go against it, even hunting. Just like your obsession with those robots."
"Let me guess, since they couldn't hunt, they starved. They starved, started to die, and then what? What does this have to do with Yaksha?" Val interjected while ignoring Noah's last comment, much to the annoyance of the snake beast.
"If you'd let me finish... Yaksha saw how his race was being driven to extinction and that's what caused a change in him. His obsession had shifted from one of peace to one of saving his race. Yaksha then used the El of Nature to absorb his race's curse into his own body. This led his body to darken and grow violent. Once it had, his obsession changed again to find the man who had cursed them and destroy him and the curse for good."
"So Yaksha went looking for this Calsifer guy?" Val asked calmly despite the snake's constant glare.
"No, Calsifer is the beast of darkness. He was swallowed by Behemoth long before this event and orchestrated his resurrection through your father and you, which is how you're now here. The man Yaksha went to hunt and kill even went so far as to curse you and others to make Yaksha go after you by sensing the curse. This man is the disciple of Calsifer and a time keeper... Mase."
"Who?" was Val's immediate response. Noah stared at the girl angrily and then sighed. The snake beast lifted its body once more to loom over Val so she would listen.
"Enough storytelling. Point is that Yaksha's a victim, Calsifer is a disgusting monster who has made his return even stronger than before, and you're the victim of it. Understand that?" Val nodded her head quickly once the snake showed its fangs. Noah smiled and stayed above Val as it stared down at her.
"Now to focus on your problem. Your mana is gone. Calsifer stole it to bolster his power, but it still belongs to you. He now has the power of Behemoth, the Water Seal he somehow stole years ago, and a resistance to fire thanks to your mana. So you must pull your mana out of him. I can assist with that part."
Val stayed quiet for once as her eyes were fixated on Noah's fangs that were dangerously close to her head. The snake beast slowly closed its mouth with a mischievous look in its eye. Val tilted her head up to stare back at Noah's eye. Noah began to circle Val with its body until the girl was surrounded. "I gave my disciple my eye and I'd rather not lose my last one. So I'll give you something you need more: my mana."
Val had to open her mouth to ask a question, her eyes still glued to the snake beast's fangs.
"Is that possible? I don't have a basis for water mana," Val explained to the smiling snake.
"Is that true now? Then how did you absorb such small amounts of water mana while your flames were still burning? You and machines may not have been able to see past that fire of yours, but in this space I can see your parents' legacy inside of you. You possess a source of water, though it may be smaller than your flames. It is from that source that you've been able to absorb the mana given to you."
Val couldn't help but smile a little while she patted her chest. She softly whispered a thank you to her mother. Noah's glowing body increased in brightness as the snake moved its head downwards to touch against the top of Val's head.
"But don't forget, child, your fire and water aren't alone. After all, I did say 'parents'."
Calsifer let out a loud cackle as it floated above the battered bodies of Yaksha and Iplitan. The black monster raised a clenched hand that held Tarvanash before it threw the dog beast onto the floor roughly with a crash.
"Weak! Weak! Weak! How have you gotten weaker?! Pathetic bugs!" Calsifer laughed out loudly. Iplitan gripped the floor in anger, growling in frustration towards the El that was weakening him. Yaksha pushed itself to its feet, roaring up at Calsifer. The black beast only grinned and laughed at the dragon below. Calsifer raised its arms above its head as dark energy began to gather between them.
"I'll eradicate you all!" Calsifer bellowed once a large orb of swirling darkness had formed in his hands. The beast never got a chance to use it, however, as Calsifer suddenly started to splutter and choke. The orb of darkness the beast had created broke apart as Calsifer lowered its arms to grab at its chest in pain. "Why... is that thing moving?!"
Calsifer opened its mouth wide and coughed out the Mana Eater it had swallowed earlier like a hairball. The Mana Eater twitched before it exploded, leaving behind a large blue orb that pulsed with mana. Calsifer heaved in large breaths before it turned its head to the orb that now had a pair of feet standing beside it.
"How are you up?! You have no mana!" Calsifer screamed angrily. Iplitan turned his head to see in surprise that Val stood beside the orb. Her purple eyes gazed calmly at Calsifer before she looked down at the orb. Val slowly bent over and placed her hand on the orb. The orb started to emit steam before it shrank and vanished inside of Val. Once it had, Iplitan's eyes widened when he felt a wave of familiar mana come from Val.
"Noah...?" the lion beast whispered to himself. Val continued to ignore the seething Calsifer as she patted her still black hair.
"Hmm, should I go to purple again?" she wondered aloud. This was Calsifer's breaking point. With a loud screech, Calsifer raised an arm and swung its mighty fist towards the magician. The black beast's fist whiffed on the air, however, as Val had swiftly moved closer to Calsifer. Calsifer was unable to react to such speed as Val placed her hand upon the blue glowing Water Seal embedded in Calsifer's chest.
"This doesn't belong to you," Val stated before she gripped onto the Water Seal and violently ripped it from the beast's chest. Calsifer shrieked again while a faint blue mist rose from all over his body.
"Damn you, damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU!" Calsifer shouted and grabbed at Val with his other hand. Calsifer missed once more as Val had moved behind the black beast. Val knelt down to the pool of water and casually started to clean the Water Seal. Calsifer was beginning to lose its temper as it started screeching and thrashing more in anger. Val's lip twitched from all the noise.
"Argh, shut up."
In less than a second, Val's hair turned silver except for a single streak that remained black in the front. As her hair changed color, Iplitan felt his breath escape him and it made him collapse back onto the floor along with Yaksha. Calsifer turned its body to face Val's back with an arrogant grin.
"Did you do something, maggot? Was that breeze meant to harm me? HA! I have Behemoth's power! Your wind can't harm me!" Calsifer cackled while Val stood up and slid the Water Seal into her outfit to keep safe. She continued to ignore Calsifer as she examined her hair in the water and she smiled.
"Yep, mixing Dad's and Mom's hair was the best idea," she stated to herself. Calsifer gave up on screaming in anger and just lifted its arm to smash the girl where she stood. Before it could though, Val spoke louder.
"I'm surprised that you're still fixated on me. Don't you know your own curse?"
"Of course I do, maggot! So what?!" Calsifer snapped back and lifted his fist higher to really smash Val down until her next words stopped him.
"I'm saying, idiot, that what I just did wasn't aimed at you." As soon as Val's words left her mouth, Calsifer began to hear a cracking noise from behind him. Val didn't bother to turn around as she tied her hair into her usual ponytail. Calsifer did though and it turned its body around to see the black scales of Yaksha begin to break and fall off to reveal golden scales beneath them. Calsifer swung its fist towards the molting Yaksha, but was blocked by a plume of emerald flames that erupted from Yaksha's mouth.
Calsifer was blown backwards into the air before its forearm was bitten by Yaksha's powerful jaw. The black beast was then swung around before being sent into the floor just as it had done to Tarvanash. Val looked up at the dragon as the dragonic beast flapped its wings forcefully and swung off the remaining black scales.
"A magic that erases the air in the area around the caster. I had thought there was only one human who had it. Since myself and Yaksha feed off the surrounding mana for power, we wouldn't be able to absorb the water mana and would become mana deficient therefore breaking Yaksha's curse. But the power needed to do that on us is immense," Iplitan stated slowly as he watched Yaksha breath emerald flames down onto the fallen Calsifer. Val glanced over at the lion beast and smiled softly.
"I was given a little boost by a pal of yours," Val replied and then looked to see Calsifer rise back into the air slowly.
"Maggots, maggots, maggots! Who do you think you are to mess with me, human?!" Calsifer screamed towards Val. Val picked at her ear slightly and smirked. She removed her finger from her ear and a blue flame danced on the tip of her finger.
"Just the hometown arsonist."