"That was your brother?" Glenn asked. The four were sitting in the huge dining hall. Kidd nodded, "Yeah. Or, he's Schala's brother anyway." Serge just sat back and listened. "So... Can we trust him?" Kidd shook her head, "I–I don't know. He's changed a lot. He's become very hateful. He has a very evil soul now. He's not the same Janus that I remember from when we were kids." Glenn folded his arms across his chest, "So. We can't trust him." Serge stood up, "We're going to trust him." All eyes turned to Serge. "What do you mean, Serge?" Ana asked. Serge smiled, "We're gonna do what he says. We're going to Porre. Kidd." Kidd looked intently at Serge. "He cares about you. In fact, you may be the only thing he cares about. He wouldn't lie to you. That's how I know he's telling the truth. He's planning on helping us because of that, and I think we're gonna need all of the help we can get...." Glenn smirked, "Serge, I think we can take care of Lynx. We've done it before, we'll just do it again. We already nearly killed him the other d–" Serge cut him off, passion in his eyes, "No! You're wrong, Glenn! I've been under his control! He controlled me! No. He's a lot more powerful than we think. He's a lot more powerful than he lets on. You see, that's his plan. He gets us to let our guard down, to get arrogant, and then he destroys us. I'm not going to let that happen. But I'm going to need all of the help I can get. Ana." Ana waited. "Do you know anybody who can teach us magic? Janus said something about me combining magic with techniques. He said it about Flying Arrow." Ana's eyes widened, "Of course! That is a combination! How could I be so blind? Wow, that kind of thing has never been done before. It was thought impossible." Serge waited impatiently. "Somebody to teach you magic? Hmm.... There might be someone. In fact, Schala might know him. Melchior. He was Guardia's finest smithy, but he also was a high priest of Zeal. He might know how to teach magic. Of course, I don't know if he's still around anymore. But.... Since we're going there, we might as well try to find him." Serge sat back down to think on this matter, "Okay. That's what we'll do." Ana looked at Serge, "Serge. I have a question." Serge looked at her. "Where did you learn that move?" Serge looked down at the ground, "My–My father taught it to me. Shortly before he became...." Serge trailed off. He didn't need to say anything else. "Your father knew magic.... If he knew magic, then that means–" Serge finished for her, "Lynx knows magic." Ana nodded. Serge let his breath out slowly, "Well. Now we have to learn magic. We won't stand a chance without it."
CLUNK! A wooden sword met a long wooden pole in an almost comical clunk. Serge and Glenn jumped apart, sweat dripped from their brows. They had been at it for over an hour now, Glenn fought with two wooden swords and Serge fought with a wooden pole about the size of the Mastermune. Glenn could easily se that Serge was humoring him, "Serge! I told you earlier! I know you're not using your full skill. Stop doing this and fight right!" Serge smirked at him, "Maybe you're just more powerful than you thought, Glenn." Glenn growled. Serge sighed, "I just don't want to humiliate you in front of your girlfriend, Glenn. I mean, it'd be embarrassing for me too take you out so fast." Glenn growled again, "Just do it, Serge!" Serge shrugged and went into an offensive stance, "You asked for it." Serge shot forward with inhuman speed. Dash&Slash. Glenn thought. Glenn just barely moved out of the way to avoid the pole, but Serge was expecting that and modified his technique. As soon as he passed Glenn he stopped and stabbed backward with the pole. It connected with Glenn's back and sent him to the padded ground of the sparring room. Glenn was barely off the ground before the next attack came. CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK! The weapons connected in impossible speed. Glenn could barely keep up. CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK! Glenn was weakening. It was becoming harder to keep up, and, if anything, Serge was getting faster. The weapons were complete blurs now. CRACK! Serge's pole broke in half with a hard blow to a wooden sword in Glenn's hand. The sword went flying. The two jumped apart to think about what just happened. Serge threw the two pieces of the pole onto the ground. Glenn was about to do the same with his remaining sword, but Serge stopped him, "You're gonna need that." Glenn smirked and threw it down. Serge simply shrugged and ran at Glenn. Fists met wrists as Glenn blocked Serge's punches. Glenn knew that if he didn't have wrist-guards on that his wrists would have broken with the first punch. Serge faked a punch to Glenn's head and hit him in the chest instead. Glenn stopped sliding about fifteen feet away. Glenn got up and shook his head, "I concede, Serge. I can't take much more of this beating." Serge grinned and walked over to Glenn. They shook hands. "Don't feel bad, Glenn. You lasted longer than I thought you would. Although, I'll admit, I still could've gone harder. I just didn't want to end up killing you with a lucky blow to the head." Serge laughed at Glenn's expression and walked over to the girls. They were laughing too. Serge looked at himself in a mirror behind the girls. His blue hair was matted against his forehead and his clothes were drenched. His hair reminded him of something that he had meant to ask Kidd. "Kidd. Can I talk to you?" He asked. Kidd made a face, "I'm not getting within ten feet of you until you wash up. You smell." Serge shook his head and walked out of the sparring room. He was headed for his room to take a bath.
"Okay. What d'ya want to talk to me about?" Kidd asked about fifteen minutes later. Serge sighed, "I actually need to ask Schala a question." Kidd smiled, "Okay. Now, what do you want to ask?" Serge recognized the tone of Schala. "I need to ask about Janus' hair." Kidd/Schala looked puzzled, "What do you mean?" Serge looked at her intensely, "It was like mine. Maybe a little bit lighter, but it was like mine. The only other person I know of who has hair like this is my father. I want to know why Janus has it too." Kidd/Schala was puzzled even more, "Everybody in Zeal had hair like tha...." She trailed off hit by a thought, "That's not possible." She said quietly. "What's not possible?" Serge asked quietly. Kidd/Schala didn't answer. "Schala? What's not possible?" She was silent. Serge saw why, Schala had left. Kidd was in her place. "Kidd?" Kidd was silent for a moment and then she cursed, "She's blocked me off. I can't get to her." Kidd looked at Serge, "That really scared her, Serge. I don't understand it, I've never seen her so scared. I don't know what was on her mind, but whatever it was ..." Serge wasn't listening, he had just thought about something, "Everybody in Zeal had blue hair. That's the thing. I–" He looked into Kidd's eyes, "I think I'm a descendant of Zeal. That's how my father knew magic. That's how I can already use it without it being properly taught to me." Kidd's eyes widened, "You're right. I think you're right! By the Goddess, you are right. I don't understand why it wasn't seen be–" Kidd went silent, Schala had come back, "Serge. Did you know your grandparents on your father's side? Did one of them have hair like yours?" Serge thought about it, "No. Both of their hairs were brown when they were growing up." Kidd/Schala breathed sharply, she was afraid of that. When she left this time, she didn't come back....
Serge walked out of Viper Manor in a daze. It was all too much for him, his mind was reeling. Kidd followed him out, but didn't say anything. The two of them just walked together through Termina. They came to the crater that Serge made with Flying Arrow. Serge sat down heavily, "It's too much. I can barely handle it." Kidd sat down next to him, "You've gotta stay with us, mate. You're the leader, we need you." Serge looked at Kidd, "Kidd. What scared Schala so much?" Kidd looked at him, "I don't know, mate. I really don't know." Serge easily saw that she was lying. He tried again, "Kidd. What scared Schala so much?" Kidd sighed, "I–I can't...." Her shoulders fell, "Okay. I'll tell ya. There was a Zeal prophesy, back when Zeal was an infant nation." Serge waited. Kidd sighed, "This prophecy said that, in the far future, two Earthbound people would give birth to a pure-blood Zealand boy. This boy would live his life, and then marry another Earthbound. These two would also give birth to a Zealand boy. This boy would hold immense power. He'd be more powerful than anyone and anything else." Kidd hesitated. Serge looked at her, "What? Would he save the world? Would he die?" Kidd sighed sadly, "This boy... He would be the cause for the destruction of Gaia. His power would grow too great, and he would become evil. How he'd become evil was unsure." Serge breathed in sharply, "It's wrong." He said curtly. Kidd smiled, "Yeah. I'm sure you're right. I can't exactly see you being the destruction of the world." Kidd. What? None of the Zealand prophesies have ever not come true. They've all happened... Except for this one. This one is the only one left. Well. This one IS wrong. There's no way Serge would destroy the world. I hope you're right, Kidd... I pray that you're right.
A shadow flew across the ground. Serge looked up and saw the form of Bob, "He's early." Kidd looked up also, "Yeah. Way too early. It's only been a day!" Bob landed with a thud. He had scratches and burn marks all over him. "There's an army of dragons on their way here right now. There's more than a hundred of them!" Serge's eyes widened, "A hundred! We can't possibly win!" Kidd was having a similar reaction, "We have to evacuate Termina!" Serge saw something, "It's too late. They're already here." Darkness enveloped the land. Kidd looked up and gasped. There were so many dragons that they blocked out the sunlight.
Serge and Kidd ran faster than they ever had before to reach Viper Manor. Bob had flown ahead, but the two ran there anyway. An army of Dragoons, with Glenn, Ana, and Dario at the front, awaited them. Serge looked back and saw that the dragons were heading straight for Viper Manor, skipping over Termina. Good, that'll give them time to escape. The last line of dragons broke off of the main group and started to attack the town. Or not. Glenn and Ana ran up to Serge and Kidd, "What's happening? Why are they attacking like this?" Glenn asked. Serge shook his head solemnly, "Revenge. Lynx wants revenge." FWOOSH! Viper Manor, for the second time in two weeks, burst into flames. This time the entire manor was engulfed in flames. Dragoons dropped to the ground to take cover. "Serge! There was hundreds of people in there!" Kidd said in anger. Ana's eyes turned to an icy blue. She raised her hands, palms out, to the sky. Dragons began to fall as they were encased in ice.
Ana was completely exhausted after encasing about ten dragons. She just couldn't do anymore. Serge turned to Dario, "Send the soldiers to evacuate Termina. Bring the Divas here, I have an idea." Dario looked like he was about to protest, but decided against it. Serge was possibly a better leader than he could ever be. The three divas ran over. With them was Dario. The other dragoons began to run toward Termina to evacuate the people. Okay, Doreen. Do your thing. Serge smiled as the three began remembering. Less than a minute later, the three remembered everything from their adventures. "Junior? Kidd? I remember!" Karsh said in amazement. Serge cut the rest off before they could say anything, "There's no time. We have to defeat these dragons. Now. If not, they could overrun El Nido. You all know what these can do." The rest of them said their agreements. "Okay. What's the plan?" Karsh asked. Serge shook his head, "The plan is to hold them back until Termina is evacuated and then we let loose everything we've got. Hopefully, we'll take them down." The other seven didn't look so sure about the plan, but they gave no complaints. "Hey. Where's Bob?" Kidd asked. FWOOSH! A pillar of flame hit a nearby dragon. It fell to the ground, but it wasn't dead. "Never mind." Serge looked at the rest of them knowing that this may be the last time he sees any of them. Knowing that this may be the last time that they see him. He turned to Kidd, "Kidd. I don't know who'll make it out of this battle. I just want to say that I—I love you." Kidd blushed, "I—I love you too, mate." FWOOSH! Bob yelled out and crashed into the still burning Viper Manor. He flew out of the manor seconds later heading toward the army of dragons. "Okay. Let's go."
FWOOSH! Serge barely dodged the pillar of fire. He was running toward the remains of Lisa's element shop. When he got there, he just grabbed a whole bunch and ran back out. He found the element Aeroblaster in his hand and concentrated. KABOOM! The sound was immense. So was the power behind it. The wave of wind hit the dragon. Both of the dragon's wings shattered. Serge threw the used element away, and found the element Iceblast. There was a rumbling underneath the dragon and then a spike of ice shot up and impaled it. "This is taking too long, we'll never make it this way." He said to himself. He saw a lot of dragons land near him. He smiled, "Perfect." He started running straight at the dragons, dodging blasts of fire the whole way. When he was in range, he summoned up the magic attack, Luminaire. He floated up into the air. Now, any flames that shot at him sizzled out before they even reached him. The energy of Luminaire overcame them.
When Luminaire was done, Serge had wiped out most of the group of dragons. The ones that weren't dead were seriously injured. Serge smiled. After floating down to the ground, he finished the rest off with a mixture of elements and physical attacks. Or so he thought. CRASH! Serge flew into straight through a wall. He got up and looked at the dragon that had hit him. It was preparing to hit him with fire. FWOOSH! Serge closed his eyes and waited for the end. It never came. He opened his eyes and saw what had happened. A wall of ice had formed in front of the dragon. The dragon had stopped its attack to ponder this. Serge heard the familiar sound of rushing water. He smiled as a deluge of water hit the dragon. Deluge, I haven't seen that in a long time. I wonder who did it. His question was answered as Kidd ran to him, "Serge! Are you alright?" Serge smiled and nodded, "Thanks. I thought I was a goner." Kidd smiled at him, "Not with me around, mate!" ROAR! Serge grabbed Kidd and jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a pillar of flame. The dragon was back!
Serge and Kidd separated to give the dragon a harder target. It worked, the dragon got confused. FWOOSH! Serge rolled out of the way and used the first element that he found in his pockets. The sky darkened and Serge's expression turned just as dark. "Kidd! Get away! Meteorite!" Kidd heard him and started running. Serge did the same. KABOOM! The dragon roared in pain as concrete and dirt flew into it, because of the large meteorite that had hit the ground ten feet away. Serge grinned at the damage done. The dragon wasn't dead yet, but it was dying. It moaned in pain as life slowly left it. Kidd ran over, "Good one, mate." Serge smiled, but his smile turned into frown as he saw the other battles that were going on. Although, for Serge and Kidd, the dragons were losing, the others weren't so lucky. They were losing. If they didn't get help soon, then the casualties would begin. Serge also noticed that the people of Termina had finally been evacuated. "Come on. They need our help." Kidd nodded and began running with Serge toward the others.
They didn't get the chance to go very far though, as a dragon landed in front of them. With one mighty sweep of the dragon's hand, Serge went flying. He landed about thirty feet away. Kidd was left to fight the dragon alone. The dragon brought its arm back and slammed it into Kidd. "Kidd!" Kidd didn't move from where she lay. The dragon's face began to turn red. Serge's eyes widened, "No… KIDD!!! Watch out!" Kidd stirred, but other than that, nothing. "NO!!!" Flames burst from the dragon's mouth. "NO! STOP!!!" The flames slowed and then stopped completely. Serge's eyes widened even wider. He looked around; there was absolutely no movement whatsoever. Except for Serge, of course. There wasn't even any wind. He took one uneasy step forward. There was no sound as his steel-toed hit the ground. He tried to yell out, but even then there was no sound. Not even sound waves are moving! He thought frantically. He remembered why he had yelled 'stop' in the first place. Kidd! He looked at Kidd. The flames were just a mere couple of feet away from her. He ran to her, but stopped to look at the pillar of flames in awe. I don't understand. Why'd this happen? He finally decided that he could worry about it later; first he had to save Kidd. He tried to move her, but she wouldn't budge. She was still trapped by time. Serge pushed harder. Come on! Move! His face was red with determination. She moved just slightly, but before Serge could rejoice, he noticed that the flames were moving too, only extremely slowly. He went back to moving Kidd.
FWOOSH! Serge rolled with Kidd in his arms out of the way of the deadly flames. They came so close to hitting them that his clothes were singed. "Serge! Where'd you come from?" Kidd asked after getting up. Ignored the question and turned to face the dragon. He narrowed his eyes at it. The dragon roared in anger. It had wanted to kill the girl. Serge felt something welling up inside of him. It different from all of his techs and magic attacks. And somehow, he knew what to do. He slowly lifted off of the ground. His eyes began to actually shine with white light. Kidd backed up, she had no idea what this was, but she didn't want to be present when it happened. Serge kept on floating upward. He got higher than he ever had with Luminaire. Finally, his ascent halted and he looked over Termina. They were still losing horribly. Serge smirked. Not anymore. Serge pointed his hand at the nearest dragon. FWOOSH! Holy, white flames burst from his hand and hit the dragon. The dragon was vaporized on contact. He did the same with another dragon. FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH! All battling had stopped now. Nobody could figure out what was happening. This is taking too long. Serge got an idea. He concentrated, and in a burst of light, holy flames exploded from his entire body. The flames extended supersonically in a sphere shape. Somehow, Serge was able to keep the flames from hurting his friends and destroying any building though. As the sphere of holy fire grew, it only vaporized dragons. If it hit anything else, nothing happened. WHOOSH! The sphere stopped extending. All the dragons were gone. An extreme fatigue overcame Serge, and when he touched the ground, he blacked out.
Well. The magic attack didn't turn out like I originally wanted it, but… Oh well! So. How'd you like it? Personally, I loved it. Hmm… Next chapter… Well. I have an idea, but… Anyway. Please R&R
Thanks.
--Ben