CHAPTER FIFTEEN: EVIL
"Y-you want me to burn the Temple?" Kimiko trembled as Chase stood, towering over her small body.
"No, I order you to burn the Temple." Chase whispered softly, sounding more dominant than ever.
"I-I c-can't." Kimiko whispered back to him, but she raised her hands in preparation.
"You know now that you cannot resist an order." Chase smirked slightly.
Kimiko knew that if she did not obey Chase, he could force himself upon her once again. Chase could even force her to do it if he so wished; Kimiko was weakened considerably. If he attempted to penetrate her mind and attempt to force her to obey him, Kimiko would not be able to resist him.
With a deep breath, she channelled all of her emotions into the pit of her stomach. All the love, the hate, anger, humiliation, sadness and hope were all compressed into a ball in her stomach. She pushed out all the emotions and felt the fire rush to her surface faster than she could have ever imagined. Kimiko really had to focus so that she did not lose control of her element and accidentally set fire to something she did not need to.
Kimiko closed her eyes so that she could focus. She did not see Chase gazing at her.
How far she has progressed. She no longer even sheds a tear for her old accomplices.
When Kimiko opened her eyes, a large fireball was hovering in front of her. Kimiko could barely hold it for much longer. The sheer amount of energy and strength that was needed to contain her element was too much for her to handle. With a strenuous groan, she released the huge fireball and sent it towards the Xiaolin Temple.
Kimiko didn't feel she had any emotion left to spare, as the fireball hurtled towards the Temple; which would surely cause the Temple to explode and crumble into dust.
"Quickly! We must go and assist Master Fung!" Omi shouted and he and Raimundo charged out of the cave, leaving Clay, who was rather stunned, behind.
"Omi! Have you got the Orb of Tornami?" Raimundo called, as the pair dashed towards the Temple. Omi stuffed his hands inside his robes and pulled out the sphere. He held it up so that Raimundo could see it.
Just then, the fireball collided with the Temple. It was the biggest explosion of fire the monks had ever witnessed. The huge fireball hit the roof of the Temple, and in doing so; it broke apart into many smaller fireballs, which also hit part of the Temple. The chain was never-ending. Each time a bit of fire hit a part of the Temple; it broke into smaller chunks, which in turn, hit other parts of the Temple.
The whole Temple was up in flames within the minute.
Omi suddenly stopped running towards the Temple and sat on the Orb of Tornami. He held up his finger and yelled,
"Orb of Tornami!"
It was just like someone had strapped a rocket to Omi, for the small boy was soon flying off towards the Temple, leaving a stream of pale blue water behind him. Raimundo ducked as the figure shot over his head, and continued running towards the burning building.
Clay took a while to get to the Temple, as he was still using his crutches from his broken leg. It was healing well, but was still tender. He was hopping as fast as he could, but it took him much longer to get there than the others.
The three monks were soon battling against the raging fire. The heat was unbearable. Omi was using the Orb of Tornami to conjure water to extinguish the fires. Raimundo was using the Sword of the Storm to direct Omi's water onto the worst parts of the fire. When Clay finally arrived, he was not of much help to the dragons. He merely attempted to douse the smaller flames in the courtyard with buckets of water and his hat, but this was no easy task for him, as his crutches restrained how strong his grip on the bucket and his hat were, meaning he often spilled most of the water before he actually reached the burning objects.
Master Fung and the other older monks were nowhere to be found outside; the monks hoped that they were not trapped inside.
When Chase spotted the monks battling the fire, he scowled and turned his back. Kimiko, who was exhausted, backed away from the fire like it was a hungry lion approaching her. The emotions that she should have felt were gone. Even the longing to see her friends was no longer there; she felt no happiness in seeing them once again. It was like she had become an empty shell.
"Our work here is done." Chase said and he snapped his fingers, before watching the scene dissolve into green smoke.
"Come with me, Kimiko. I wish to speak with you." Chase told her when they arrived back at his home. Chase began walking and went through a door, leading to the eastern wing of Chase's home.
Suppressing a sigh, Kimiko plodded after Chase; she didn't really focus of where she was going, just that she was tired. Luckily, it wasn't long before he stopped and entered a door along the right hand side of the corridor. Kimiko followed him inside. She was pleasantly surprised at the nature of the room. It was a lot like a sitting room. There were three red sofas, all positioned around a small coffee table and there were bookshelves and knick-knacks lining the walls. Chase sat on one of the sofas and let out a relaxed sigh. Kimiko stood in the doorway.
"Come. Sit." Chase gestured towards the sofa opposite him. Kimiko hesitantly took her seat.
"I thought that I should apologise to you for what I did." Chase looked solemn as he spoke, but he kept eye contact the entire time. Kimiko felt her jaw drop.
"I realise now that what I did was an extremely dishonourable thing to do and I do not have the words to explain my actions. I hope that you can forgive me. It would seem as though in my fit of anger I lost my self control for a moment."
He paused for a while, and then continued.
"I saw that you did not hesitate to attack the Temple under my orders, which, although I would like you to follow orders, you should not be so afraid of me that you shake with fear. I do not want you to fear me, Kimiko."
Kimiko stared at Chase, who was looking sadly back at her. He took a long breath. His back was straight and he looked very formal and determined, despite his solemn facial expressions.
"Which is why," He said after a long time, "with your permission, of course, I would like to erase your memories of the event using the Wushan Geyser."
Kimiko was silent for a moment. She still felt empty inside; she had thought that after an apology, of all things, from Chase Young, would make her feel something. But no, there was nothing. She was the empty shell of the Xiaolin Warrior she once was.
She thought about Chase's offer, as he watched her. After a long and awkward silence, Kimiko finally spoke.
"No." She said, and Chase raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I'd rather remember… than have my memory erased. I didn't like not knowing what had happened before." Kimiko said slowly. The real reason she didn't want him to use the Wushan Geyser on her was just in case he decided to ever do it again. If Kimiko couldn't remember the horrible events of what he had done, she could, given the right circumstances, provoke him to attack her another time, without even knowing she was doing it.
Chase seemed satisfied with her answer and then smirked.
"I have got good news for you, Kimiko."
"What?" Kimiko asked, looking at him curiously.
Chase smiled a genuinely warm smile, which Kimiko had rarely seen, and combed her face with his eyes.
"You obeyed my orders without hesitation. I know I can trust you now…."
Kimiko looked up at Chase.
Where is he going with this?
"My original plan was to have you as my 'worker', who would do as I commanded, but after your display today, I think you deserve a title you are worthy of. From now, Kimiko, you are my apprentice. You will learn, in all ways possible, how to take over the world. When the time comes, you will do just that, and you will not fail." Chase stood up and patted her softly on her shoulder, before leaving Kimiko to the silence of the room.
She sat for a moment, with her arms flat against her legs, feeling stunned.
I've been broken. I'm just as he wanted me to be all along. I'm not his apprentice. I'm his slave. I can't leave here, even though I want to and I can't disobey him.
I'm a mini-Chase. He's done it, I've become like him.
Kimiko knew that slowly, she was becoming the well-oiled machine that Chase was so anxious to turn her into.
Now I know for sure, I'm never going to be able to go home when I get out of here, IF I get out of here, I should say.
Kimiko felt a rush of emotion come bursting to her surface suddenly. Without hesitation, she scrunched her eyes up and concentrated on ignoring the many emotions, which bubbled up to her surface.
I need to act like I don't care. If everyone thinks I'm like Chase, which, I am now, they'll act sooner against me.
With a deep breath, Kimiko thought of the food waiting for her and pushed the images of her friends from her head, where she swore she would keep them.
It took all of Kimiko's efforts to restrain the tears, which threatened to spill from her eyes as the memories of her friends were locked away inside her mind – never to be re-opened.