Chapter -126: Negative Degrees of Separation

The following morning Sarajin was ready to head out for Cryofloe once more. The alchemy change was still in effect with his sweater but he kept it tied around his waist for now.

He was taking his time though, for he still had to think about how he would go and tackle the mountain.

"Flying won't work. It's too cold and the added air pressure will make me dizzy." He crossed his arms and tried to go deeper and deeper for an idea.

But before he knew it he bumped into someone and stumbled back onto his butt.

As he rubbed his forehead he looked up and saw that he had run into Nimus' bag still strung over his shoulder. The man turned around and chuckled, "You ok, cotton puff?"

Sarajin sprang to his feet and shouted, "Hey! S-Sorry for bumping into you."

"Heh well, you seem to be deep in thought," Nimus shook his hand out and in his palm laid an apple, "Here, take an apple."

He flung it over and Sarajin caught it in both hands, raising it to his mouth to enjoy a bite or two. Once he swallowed he looked up at Nimus and asked, "Thanks, I needed that."

"I could tell," Nimus jokes, "So what's up with you lately? Ooooor are you gonna shoo me off on another letter delivery adventure before we get a chance to chat?"

Sarajin winced and then hastily shook his head, "N-No need for that, Uncle Nimus! Temporis and I've already arranged to meet up at Cryofloe again today."

"Whew...!" Nimus sighed, swiping his hand over his brows, "That's a load off my wings."

He then scurried to stand upright with his arms crossed and gaze centered on Sarajin, "I-I mean that's wonderful news, kid! Uhhhh, did I hear you right? Cryofloe?"

"Mmm hmm!" Sarajin nodded.

"I couldn't imagine that place jiving with you very well." Nimus commented.

"It's my least favorite place so far..." Sarajin sighed, his shoulders drooping. He then poked his head up and asked, "Hey, Nimus...? Have you ever gotten into any fights?"

Nimus ruffled his goggles a little and then whispered with intrigue, "I've had a few scrapes before, why?"

Sarajin tilted his gaze towards the side and murmured, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Get the courage to hurt someone?"

"..." Nimus dropped his hands to his sides and let out a quick sigh. Then, he put his hand in Sarajin's hair and ruffled it around, "It's not all about courage, kid. Sometimes you have no choice but to defend yourself from people who want to hurt you. And if they get hurt in the process, oh well, they started it."

"But...can't people die if you fight back?" Sarajin said, looking up into his eyes.

Nimus withdrew his hand and chuckled, "They can."

"Then isn't it better to not fight at all?"

"And then you might die," Nimus said, levying some of his bluntness with his natural laid-back tone, "See the problem here?"

"...I just don't get why we can't just talk all our problems out." Sarajin said, pressing his chin against his chest and sighing deep.

"You know," Nimus folded his arms, "Fighting is just another way of talking things out."

Sarajin raised his head and uttered "Huh?" to which Nimus answered his piqued curiosity with, "When two people clash fists or swords they aren't just putting their bodies to work, but their souls and dreams as well."

"It's a battle of ideals. And if one person's ideal comes through strongly enough through battle, it might even be more effective than just using your words."

"...Really?" Sarajin said with a doubtful tilt of the head.

Nimus' smile perked up and he said, "Violence is just fighting taken to an extreme. But you shouldn't be trying to avoid fighting entirely."

He then turned aside and whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "Bah, look at me, trying to tell you what to do..."

He then turned back around to be met with Sarajin's puzzled expression, upon which he gave his final thoughts, "But hey, look, I get it. I respect that you don't want to hurt anyone. I wish more people were like that in this world. But I don't think it'd hurt you to learn how to use all those elements you got to protect yourself just in case talking doesn't work out."

Sarajin replied with a strained, "I'll think about it."

Nimus then smiled and gestured his hand up, "I'm just looking out for you, cotton puff."

The two then walked side-by-side to the edge of the village, along the way Sarajin poked his head a little more, "Soooo, do you know anything about Cryofloe's mountain?"

"Only that the Titan lives on top and it's impossible to fly all the way up there," Nimus then turned his head aside and smirked, "What, are you planning on climbing that?"

When Sarajin nodded Nimus countered with a weary whistle and turned his head back, "Oooooooh kay then. Well, I wish you all the luck, kid."

"It's that bad?"

"No. It's worse," Nimus' words sprung Sarajin's eyes wide open with panic, "Look, as long as you ignore all the frostbite gnawing into your knees and thigh deep snow all you've got to worry about is the lack of visibility and warmth!"

"...I'm starting to have second thoughts about this."

"Heh heh well, on the bright side," Nimus patted him on the back, "There's a fairy-like figure on the mountain who carries wanderers back down to safety."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's pretty reliable too. You can-" Nimus then clamped his lips shut and his eyes darted to the right.

"She? You know her?" Sarajin said, eyes glistening with awe."

"S-Sure I do! I got lost one time and she had to bail me out," Nimus stood and hastily rubbed the back of his head, "Then I tried to hit on her but well, she's one of those silent-types..."

Nimus then pushed out a quick "Whew!" and crossed his arms, "Weeeeeell anyways, I've probably kept you waiting long enough."

With them at the edge of the village he gave Sarajin a gentle nudge on the back and said, "Go have fun with your friends, kid."

Sarajin turned around and let gravity begin to pull him off the side. He waved his hand out and shouted, "Thanks for the advice, Uncle Nimus!"

"AGAIN with that...!" Nimus got one last word in before Sarajin was off and flying to his destination.

It was a straight shot over to Cryofloe and when he approached the edge of the village, he saw Temporis and Justek standing there in mid-conversation.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked during his landing.

Temporis turned to him and waved her hand up beside her face, "We were sharing ideas about how to get you up the mountain."

"Oh? And?"

Justek sighed and Sarajin turned to find him shaking his head, eyes closed and lacking confidence, "It's not looking too good."

"Mmm..." Went Sarajin.

Temporis put her hands behind her head and leaned back, "I snuck into my dad's Atelier last night and skimmed his books for ideas."

She poked one eye open and remarked, "That idea you had about applying multiple aquamarines to your clothes? Won't work."

"How come?"

"When you've transferred properties once you can't keep doing it to stack it."

Justek then added his input, "From what I'm understanding, we'd need something else that is good at guarding against the cold."

"Ok...like what?"

"Bear fat," Temporis blurted out, causing Sarajin to squirm and her to then shake her head, "Buuuut let's just avoid that if we can."

Sarajin breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Justek, who nudged his glasses up and remarked, "I tried to think of the ways we could use your other elements."

"Oh yeah, there has to be something I could do with them!" Sarajin exclaimed, only for his excitement to be deflated by Temporis sticking the tip of her tongue out and making a "Pllbbt" sound.

"No dice, Sarajin." She said.

Justek waved his hand around by his chest and sighed, "All of your other elements are useless under extremely cold conditions. At best, you could fend the snow off with your wind."

"Then what other options are there?" Sarajin wondered.

"There aren't any," Justek replied, "You would have to hope and pray that you can make it to the top before the cold claims you."

Sarajin crossed his arms and put himself deep in thought.

Temporis then remarked, "What did you come up with?"

He raised his head and then rubbed the back of it, "I-I was thinking about other things last night..."

Temporis shrugged and Justek nodded, with him commenting, "Fair enough."

In the spur of the moment though Sarajin suggested, "The opposite of cold is hot...So wouldn't it be better to go after the Fire Titan first so I can use his Conduit Form to scale the ice mountain?"

"Nooooooo...!" Groaned Temporis, "You'll come out of there a deep-fried Sarajin if you try!"

"Yes, indeed," Justek remarked, "Canofloe's volcano is an extreme in the opposite direction of Cryofloe's environment. Boiling hot lava, plumes of suffocating ash..."

"Nobody but a lunatic would try and climb that volcano," Temporis finished, "Maybe we just shouldn't bother with the Titans. It's either you freeze to death or boil alive."

"But if I don't do something about these two Tribes they're going to keep killing each other!" Sarajin exclaimed.

He then dialed it back a little and crossed his arms, thinking back to earlier. Then, with brows arched in a determined manner he clenched a fist before his chest and then swung it out with a declaration of, "I'm going to climb the ice mountain."

Justek widened his eyes and then stared firmly at Sarajin's face, whispering concernedly, "Are you sure?"

Sarajin nodded, "My friend back home told me there's a fairy on the mountain who protects people who get lost. So if I go too far, they'll rescue me."

Temporis suddenly flinched and threw her arms down, "Oh right! I knew that!"

She gave a couple quick snaps of the fingers, "Yeah yeah, it won't hurt to try climbing the mountain while they're up there as a safety net."

Justek groaned so obviously he had some thoughts to give. Temporis looked at him with a tilt of the head and some playful jabbing, "Got any objections, four-eyes?"

Justek breathed deep and sighed just as hard. Scratching the side of his head he said, "If you're both confident in this information then it's likely true."

He then turned to Sarajin and told him in earnest, "But don't push your luck, Sarajin. Climb back down if it gets to be too much."

"I will." Sarajin nodded and smiled, with Justek smiling back with a light hum.

The three then made their way towards the mountain. The celebrations in Cryofloe had come to an end, but the consequences of war were still present in everyday life.

Soldiers had their armor and weapons shined and the scratches buffed out while the younger generation were training to join in future battles.

Colrez could be seen walking among the crowd at one point looking as pompous and battle-hungry as ever. His smile was a twisted fixture on his otherwise normal face.

Sarajin didn't look at him for long but wanted to remember that feeling his presence brought forth...And how similar it was to Ophelia's bloodlust.

Once they arrived back at the Wilds it wasn't long before they were standing at the foot of the mountain. The pure white snow blanketing the rocks looked as beautiful as it was deadly, with ice crystals of various sizes sticking out along the way.

The three stared up trying to get even the slightest glimpse of the peak. But they couldn't even see halfway up.

Justek and Sarajin turned to one another and with a lone nod, Justek told him, "We'll wait for you down here."

"Alright." Sarajin replied and nodded back.

Temporis poked her head out beside Justek and began to pace away, "And if you don't make it, we'll make sure you get a nice memorial in the snow!"

"RIP, Sarajin Stratos...His journey was stopped stone-cold in its tracks."

She turned to look over her shoulder and both parties were unamused, with Justek huffing out a bit of steam from his nostrils.

Temporis then turned around and giggled, "Ah you'll be fine!"

Justek glared at her and muttered, "Do you not understand the effects your words have on him?"

"It's alright," Sarajin smiled and then faced Justek, "Your encouragement will help me make the climb."

He then faced the daunting mountain, took a deep breath in for one last bit of warmth, then gripped his fists at his sides and began climbing.

Trudging through the deep, soft snow, Sarajin's face was quickly pelted by the increased pace of the snowfall, freezing over his brows and leaving his body in a shiver.

He took Justek's advice to heart and surrounded himself with a simple breeze to brush many of the snowflakes aside. He could see enough of his breath for it to qualify as a type of fog.

The glow of the crystals kept him moving on the right path, while a solid rock foundation allowed him to scale with ease at first.

But he didn't get to feel any of that rock as the snow was just that thick. But not long in he would count his blessings over that, for when he made contact with the stone it was slippery enough to make him fall flat on his face on contact.

He pushed himself up and shivered a lot, wasting time on brushing the snow off his clothes. Then he kept pressing on, feeling the temperature dropping to the point where his clothes were unable to ward it off, just as Temporis had warned.

The upper limit had been reached and he couldn't even guarantee he was close to the halfway point let alone the top.

The snow was coming down hard, consuming sight and sound. The snow at his feet was becoming as solid as a rock, but soon he would be unable to tell the difference.

His feet were getting numb and his hands soon followed.

"T-T-This is bad..." His teeth were chattering and he swiveled his head around. His knees were in pain and cracking at the slightest movement.

He couldn't see any of those crystals anymore. When did that stop happening anyways? Was it still day or night? Was he actually even alive?

His breathing and heavy heartbeat was proof that he still stood, but he wouldn't be able to manage that for much longer...

"I...I better get back down." He tried to turn around but started to feel dizzy trying.

His body bobbed around and he staggered back. Up was down and down was up. The cold had frozen his ability to blink. He had to have been covered in enough frost to make him a living ice monster.

He tried to move forward but wasn't even certain that he was going down. The wind whipped against his body and battered more frost all over his skin.

It all dragged him down onto his knees with a stiff descent, leaving him unable to move and his breaths producing ice shards.

"N-Not like this...!" He fought bitterly against the cold down to the last breath he could breathe.

But when the cold grabs hold, it, and only it, decides when you die.

Sarajin clutched his body to maintain one last bit of warmth, believing that he just had to stretch his arm out and Justek or Temporis would be there to rescue him.

Instead he fell flat on his chin, reaching out towards the white abyss, his eyelids slowly sealing shut, signaling his ultimate fate...

"P-Please..." He begged, "I have to...make it to the top..."

A winged silhouette began to descend from the sky, his body too deep in ice for it to register in his head...

"I can't...let war...win..." As his eyes sealed shut, the figure the silhouette belonged to landed at his face, wearing a pair of glistening ice blue high-heels...

…

…

…

"Is he going to wake up...?"

"Dunno why you're asking such a dumb question, they always do."

"He's soft."

"Yeah, not much meat on them bones. No wonder he collapsed."

"Heh, it's fun to poke his cheeks."

"Oooh oh lemme get on that fun!"

"Mmm..." Sarajin twitched with a smile and a light giggle.

"I think he's waking."

"Just a few more pokes for fun, eh Chillo?"

"Heh heh, yeah."

Sarajin started to feel something pokey pressing into his left cheek while he was also getting poked by something fuzzy in his belly.

"Heh...heh...!" Following a couple more chuckles his eyes sprang open and his heart started pumping blood at a rapid pace.

"AH!" He shouted alongside another figure that hopped backwards away from his body.

His gaze became glued to that figure and was stunned to find that he was looking at some type of animal he'd never seen before.

It was pudgy and looked docile enough, with an aquamarine coat of fluffy fur covering a body made of solid ice. It had a beaded nose and eyes and seemed to lack limbs, just having these scaled three-fingered claws for hands and feet. It's head had a curved triangular shape.

It was a small guy too, shorter than him even.

And while he was looking down at the creature he noticed something reaching out towards his exposed belly. It was a wrinkly red finger with bits of fur scattered along it.

It was a very, VERY long finger too. Sarajin followed it to its owner, but didn't get to see him long before the creature took their finger and flicked him up in the nose.

"Ooohoohoohoo!" The creature cackled.

Sarajin felt a stinging sensation on his nose as he lowered his head and rubbed the sore spot. He took a look around and noticed that he was somewhere completely different from where he last left off.

For one, there was no sign of snow or cold. It was a pretty neutral atmosphere temperature wise. There was a kind of fog in the sky with an astral presence, reminding him of the skies of Obscura, only mistier.

He looked down and noticed that his feet were dipping into a small body of lukewarm water and all the frost that had pinned him down was melting off into it.

He was leaning back against an icy-blue stone wall that would be easy for him to climb over and take a peek if he wanted. The stone filled half this spring with the other half consisting of a crack black stone, the water there bubbling over near the creature's toes.

He finally got to look at said creature for all they were worth. It had five fingers and five toes with orange fur covering his body save for around the face. The face was surprisingly human-like with the major difference being thicker ears and a more pushed in nose.

They had a long, slick beard with a bit of a spiral curl at the end and stretched eyebrows which were halfway consumed in fire. The fur around its face was redder than the rest.

It wore an open black metal vest with rubies acting as the buttons and the same type of pants as Gabriel, only orange and with a black ember pattern spread over it. However, these pants had holes on the sides and what appeared to be six different sword handles sticking into its legs. One final sword was sheathed at his hip and covered up in chains and locks.

The creature leaned in with a hand on the side of its face and smirked, waving out two tails from behind, one tipped with red fire, the other tipped with blue.

With the fire in it's brows diminishing the creature wiggled it's lips to shift into a smile and then said in an impish tone, "Have any good dreams there sleepyhead?"

Sarajin blinked a few times and then muttered, "Where...where am I?"

"Nirvana, kid," The furry creature waved its hand out and said softly, "I'm afraid you died out there."

Sarajin's eyes sprang wide-open and froze there, causing the creature to collapse onto his back and kick his feet up with hooting and hollering.

"Ha ha! Ha ha! You humans always fall for that! OOH! OOH OOH OH!"

Sarajin glared at him with a pout and stammered, "T-That's not funny...! I thought I HAD died out there!"

The creature flipped back upright and the fires on it's brows flickered out again, with him wiping a tear off as he tried to stop chuckling, "Yeah yeah well...Consider yourself lucky you didn't."

He leaned a hand against the side of his face and grumbled, "Cause some bugs just ain't easy to swat..."

"Huh?" Sarajin took notice but the creature proceeded to smile and laugh it off.

"Eh forget it," He then laid both hands atop his knees and sighed, "Alright, so...Unless you were foiled out of fulfilling your death wish there's probably only one other reason you tried to climb the mountain...You wish to speak with the Titans, don'tcha?"

Sarajin froze for a couple seconds and then nodded a couple times.

The creature then rolled it's hand around a couple times and said tiredly, "Well...fire away then."

"Y-You're the messenger for the Titans?"

The creature's head rose with a look of abject dumbfoundedness as it hissed out mockingly, "Are ya brain-dead or sumthin', kid?"

It then rested it's knuckles against the side of it's face and chuckled as Sarajin continued to give the ol' blank stare, "Yer lookin' at them."

"Y-You?!" Sarajin spat up, immediately thinking back to the monstrous beings he saw erupting out of the peaks, "But you're so...small."

"Oh and I bet you're so tall ain'tcha, wise guy?" The furry creature said sardonically.

Sarajin then looked at the other creature and knew what bugged him about them immediately, "And...you're not a bear..."

The icy ball of fluff slumped into himself with a long, melancholic sigh, "Awww..."

"Heeeey," The other creature muttered, "Lay off the bear cracks, he's sensitive about that."

"S-Sorry..." Sarajin replied.

After the initial shock wore off he began to feel the warmth in his chest from the Wellspring's reaction. So even if these two creatures might be pulling his leg about their identity, he had to assume there was some relation between them and the Titans.

The furry creature raised his brows and let out a slow, dry whistle, "That's a fine set of Wellspring fragments you've picked up there, kid. Heh heh heh well...Might as well get the introductions over with."

He grinned and leaned his head out, "Magmankey, Titan of Fire. The ol' blob of depression next to you is my brother of Ice, Chillo Dillo."

Chillo gently raised it's claw and said, "Howdy."

Sarajin slowly raised his hand and replied, "Howdy...?"

"They're acting so...friendly with one another." He threw a puzzled glance at his surroundings and wondered just how high up he was at the moment.

Curiosity guided him over the side of this little spring where he found he couldn't see past this fog. But from the fog felt on this side he still had to be over Cryofloe's mountain. But it felt like he was back on the ground...

He turned back around and found Magmankey grinning at him and waving his hand in circles, "Well come on already, let's get this over with, whaddya want?"

There was a lot to unpack with his current situation but the Titan's haste made him feel urged to just say what he came here to say, "R-Right...! Magmankey, sir, I came here because I wanted to talk with you about the war going on between Cryofloe and Canofloe."

"1,247..." Magmankey grumbled aloud.

"H-Huh?" Sarajin said with mouth partially agape.

Magmankey wagged the back of his fingers out and insisted, "Don't mind me."

Sarajin blinked and then continued, "B-But first I have to ask...I assumed you and the Titan of Ice disliked each other."

"You and about 964 others." Magmankey chuckled.

"Then...why were you fighting yesterday?"

"Eh, for fun." Magmankey shrugged.

Sarajin put his hands on his knees and leaned out, "W-Well your people are out there killing each other! Shouldn't you be doing something about that?!"

"857..." Magmankey groaned while rolling his eyes.

After he looked at Sarajin staring blankly his way the Titan smirked and propped his head at a slant, "We are doing somethin' about it though."

"Y-You are...?!" Sarajin's hope was as clear as crystal in his eyes.

But that wily monkey had the means to crush it with ease, "Yeah. We're the ones makin' 'em fight."

Sarajin's face went pale and he stuttered, "W-W-W-What...?"

"Oooooh, four stutters this time. That's number...145 I wanna say?" Magmankey murmured.

Sarajin stood up and threw his fists down by his hips, "What do you mean you're making them fight?!"

"What, ya expectin' some deeper meaning outta me?" Magmankey picked his nose and looked away from Sarajin, "We put up some smoke and mirrors, our Tribes go at it for a while, and the two of us get some free entertainment. Simple as that."

Sarajin closed his eyes and firmly shook his head, springing out with a hand on his chest and a shout of pure disbelief, "You're Titans! You're supposed to be protecting your people!"

Magmankey raised his brows and chuckled dryly, "Who horse-fed you that load of crap?"

Sarajin's eyes flared and he froze in place. Magmankey's smirk widened and his tone got deeper and more ominous, "We're gods, human. We own you. Like a kid owns toys."

He then closed his eyes and shrugged, "So if some break cuz we're having fun, oh well! Give it time and you humans'll just make some new toys for us to play with."

"T-That's insane...!" Sarajin stammered.

"Haaaaa, 1,145..." Magmankey replied with his head leaned back against the rocks.

"People shouldn't be fighting each other! We need to work together to stop the Rot!"

"The Rot?!" Magmankey popped his eyes wide open and then hunched over, hands lazily placed over his knees, "Listen kid, there ain't nothin' that can be done about that."

Sarajin slanted his brows and threw his hand out shouting, "H-How would you know?!"

"Pffft, please, you think all of us just sat on our asses and CHOSE to let it fester?" Magmankey grit his teeth and chuckled ominously, "Boy...we tried to slash it, smash it, smaulder it, drown it, zap it, banish it...Hell, we even tried launching those damn things out to space only for them to return right back to the planet's surface in the blink of an eye."

"So eventually we just gave up and put our energy into surrounding what little remained of the Tribes with invisible barriers that would prevent those Rot Walkers from approaching us."

"Get it? The Rot ain't just some poison it's a cancer that's forced itself into the natural order of things. As far as the planet's concerned it's the status quo and always has been."

Sarajin suffered a minor blow to his determination but kept pressing on, shaking his head in denial of what the Titan was telling him, "Maybe you shouldn't have tried to solve the problem by yourselves."

"Oh?" Magmankey raised his brows.

"I bet even now, if we got every single person on the planet to work together, just like in the old days, we'd be able to come up with a solution to solve the Rot. That's why I've been going to the other Tribes and seeking the Titans' help, because I believe that I can use this power of the elements to help show the divided Tribes that we're not so different from one another. And maybe, just maybe, we can put aside our differences and stop killing each other over them."

"Wow..." Magmankey raised his hands for a slow clap and Chillo Dillo did the same.

"That was a GREAT speech, kid..." Magmankey chuckled, putting his hands behind his head, closing his eyes, and settling against the rock with a smile, "11."

Sarajin's gaze faltered and he shouted out, "W-Why do you keep blurting out numbers?!"

"Cause kid, a million years is a long time and when you've been around that long well..." Magmankey opened one eye and scoffed, "You tend to deal with repeats a lot..."

Sarajin stood there stunned and Magmankey laughed, "What?! Did ya think you were special...Sarajin Stratos? C'mon it's even written in your blood!"

He closed his eyes and smiled, "People keep coming up here trying to woo me with their big boasts about peace and love and unity and all that and if I'm gonna be honest, I gave up on that crap some millenia ago."

"I've learned to live with the world being a huge shithole by making the most of the people living in it," Magmankey smiled and shrugged dismissively, "I mean...who's gonna stop me? That pitiful wild child Ophelia?"

His eyes widened with a sinister glow inside that made Sarajin see the Titan as many times his normal size, "You?"

Sarajin trembled and his pain went to serving the Titan's pleasure, "Haaaaa. Seriously, what makes you so different from all the rest?"

Sarajin's trembling gaze looked straight at the Titan of Fire's eyes and he told him, "B-Because I will succeed! Even if it means having to stop a Titan!"

Magmankey's eyes flared open with a very light aura of fire surrounding him. But to Sarajin, it appeared as a fire so thick that it consumed his whole body in shadow, save for his eyes.

Sarajin's body weakened and he began to fall to his knees, with Magmankey saying in a booming tone, "This is one percent of my full power, human. Ooh hoo hoo hoo, maybe I'll go wild and use two percent, see how ya like that...!"

But in his power-mad state of mind, the Titan failed to notice that despite his attempts to flaunt, Sarajin did not land on his knees.

His whole body was trembling but he pushed himself back up, feeling like he was struggling against the gravity of the world. He forced his gaze upon the Titan and looked tired, but his eyes still shone with hope.

And with this added determination, he asked the Titan, "I can do it...No, I HAVE to do it! So please, both of you, if you just lend me your power, I can help return this world to normal!"

"...Heh," Magmankey smirked and in the blink of an eye, the fire around him was gone. He leaned on his side and used his fist to support his head, "Heh heh heh heh! Well...alright then. Guess there's a first time for everything..."

He flicked his finger up suddenly and it got Sarajin to flinch, "I think I'll make you one of my toys for now."

Sarajin widened his eyes and wondered, "Does that mean...?"

"Pffft, no, what, do you think I just hand out Wellspring fragments like they're pieces of candy?" Magmankey grinned very wide and said, "If you want to get a hold of that, you're gonna pass my Trial."

"...And that is?"

"Climb my volcano..." Magmankey forced a pause for dramatic effect, "WITHOUT using a single one of your elements."

Sarajin grimaced and his heart began racing, as the Titan of Fire mocked him for it, "I'm sure you can manage."

Sarajin swallowed deep and declared, "I-I will...!"

Chillo Dillo patted him on the arm with his right claw and said in a dully enthusiastic tone, "That's the spirit champ. Here..."

He then flipped his claw around and summoned an icy-blue energy sphere on the palm, "Here's a little parting gift."

It was a Wellspring fragment...

Magmankey sat upright and slapped his forehead, throwing his hands out in a panic before grunting, "Gghhh...! Every time, brother! Cut it out!"

Chillo frowned and put the fragment down at his side, muttering in a pitiable tone, "I just didn't want him to leave empty-handed..."

"You don't hand the fragments of creation as a gift to a pity party!"

Sarajin shook his head and said, "I-I want to earn your trust. So can you hold on to that until I climb up here again?"

He patted Chillo's fluffy head and their icy face seemed to turn a little redder, with him purring in delight.

"Ooooy vey..." Magmankey rolled his eyes and then fell back onto his butt.

"And I WILL climb back up here!" Once Sarajin was done he turned around and looked over to the side. With a bit of canned laughter he asked, "Uhhh, but first...How do I get down?"

He felt something on his butt and upon looking over his shoulder, found another of Magmankey's stretched out fingers bent down beneath his rear.

"You fall." The Titan said in a humored tone before flicking Sarajin through the air on a rapid descent towards the bottom of the mountain.

Moving at such blistering speeds he didn't really have any time to muster up some wind to cushion his fall and instead started yelling out a bunch of noises.

Suddenly, Justek leaped through the snowy veil and grabbed hold of him with a cry of "I have you!" only for him to join in his friend's panic as the force of his descent caused the two of them to go crashing towards the ground.

Justek used his draconic heritage to brace his legs for impact and he went sliding dozens of feet across the snow at the base of the mountain.

Sarajin's whole body fell into a slump and his heart was pumping adrenaline through him like crazy. He laid one hand on his panting, heaving chest and said, "I-I think that's enough excitement for one day..."

Once he had steadied himself enough to stand, Temporis ran up along the snow drifts to catch up and immediately bombarding him for answers, "Well, how did it go?! You were gone for an hour!"

"Ummm...Where do I begin?"

Sarajin recapped everything he learned in a matter of minutes including the brutal Trial the Titan had forced upon him.

When it was done Temporis' mouth was agape and she blurted out what all of them were likely thinking but didn't want to say, "What an asshole!"

It really shouldn't have caught the two off-guard at this point.

"Treating people as playthings?! Who does that?!" While Temporis was ranting, Justek gave her an unamused glare from out of the corner of his eyes.

He then turned to Sarajin and remarked, "I...honestly can't believe it's true though. To think that a Titan would just...give up on his people like that."

Temporis crossed her arms and shouted, "I say screw both these Tribes AND their Titans."

She then puffed her cheeks while looking at Sarajin, letting out a sigh, "But you're going to do the monkey's Trial anyways, aren't you?"

Justek sighed deeper and remarked, "Sarajin she has a point this time. Be reasonable. You barely survived the climb up this mountain as it was. How can you expect to climb a volcano without ANY of your elements?"

"I-I haven't worked that out yet," Sarajin said with an awkward chuckle, "I need to figure out how the Fire element works first..."

Temporis threw her arms down and smiled, "Heh! I know what that means!"

Sarajin nodded and then put his fist before his chest, "Yep! Tomorrow...we're going to Canofloe!"

Next Time: What Defines Honor