Young Magic Knight: Chapter 2 (Trace)

After seeing all this, Blue passes out... He sure is prone to just fainting, isn't he? I pick him up and sit him on the bench near the bus stop, and Cleo sits with me as we wait for him to wake up. After some time passes, he finally opens his eyes...

“Trace... is that you...?”

I remove my new sunglasses so he can see my face a bit better.

“Yeah, it's me. Don't worry, you're fine. You didn't get too badly hurt.” He looks at himself, maybe he's checking for any serious wounds, like he doesn't believe me, or something. Now he looks at me... I'm sure he's got so many questions...

Blue takes a deep breath, then brings his hand to his chin, thinking. “I'll start with my first question. What were the powers you three just used?”

I sigh, thinking of a way to explain it to him without over-complicating it. “Listen. Me, Cleo, and that guy... We were contacted by spirits called Magic Knight Forces...” He raises an eyebrow, skeptical of what I was saying. “From what I understand, they're the undead souls of certain great warriors from times long past. What happens is they die, and then they can synchronize their souls with people who are born under the same Birth Star... I think? At least, that's how Grey explained it to me. All that matters is that they can grant magical power to someone with the same birthday as them.”

Blue still seems to not believe me, but at least he's listening and letting me explain it all. “Who's Grey?” he eventually asks.

I pull out my cell phone. “He is the Magic Knight Force that protects me... Whenever I don't need him, Grey turns into this app on my cell, see?”

Grey “possesses” my phone when I'm not using his power, and I show this “app” to Blue, who seems to be starting to understand and believing I'm telling him the truth. “Okay... I think I get it. So, who was that guy?”

“I know some stuff about him,” I say. “The Phoenix Shade. A pretty strange Magic Knight whose powers are very similar to another's, the Phoenix. However, all of its magic is Dark instead of Fire, and while it bestows some limited form of immortality, like its user could survive being shot in the chest like you saw earlier, if his entire body is destroyed, or if he runs out of mana trying to come back, he'll really die...” I look at Cleo after saying all of this. “Right?”

“Mm-hm.” She nods.

“I see.” Blue still looks very gloomy. “Do you know why he was trying to kill me?”

“I'd like to know as much as you do, Blue. Only thing I know is that he wanted to kill you...”

“But...”

I can't answer his question. I don't know why... Cleo chimes in with an answer of her own: “Based on what he said, a nearby Knight Force is trying to contact you... He probably wanted to stop that from happening.” Blue's face turns to one of shock and fear. He looks like he's going to panic, so I try and calm him down.

“Take it easy. If what Cleo says is true, then I guess the Magic Knight's going to reach you soon, and ask for you to host it. All you have to do is make a choice... If you want that power, then--”

“No!” He spits out the words immediately. “If I refuse to take this 'force'... then that guy won't try to kill me again, right? I mean, what if he attacks my house or something while my family's around? I believe you, but as interesting as all this sounds... that power will just bring me trouble. Sorry...”

For some reason, I can't help laughing out loud.

Making that same puzzled face, Blue says, “W-what’s so funny!?”

“What are you sorry for?” Blue looks at the ground after I say this.

“Trace... Cleo... what do you do with your powers?”

Cleo now says: “We beat up bad guys! Didn't you see?”

“...and we just saved you, didn't we?” I add.

Now he looks even more depressed... “It... it must be hard work, huh?” Actually, I can't deny that it is. He goes on: “You realize this is dangerous, right...? What are you going to do if you die--”

“Well, I'll be dead, duh!” I barely let the last word pass through his lips before I shout this. “Blue, look... I've known about all this from the moment I agreed to host Grey! I knew it wouldn't be easy, I knew I was in danger, I knew I could end up getting killed...” Great. Now he's making me depressed... “...but Azul, Blue, what does that have to do with you?”

He looks like he doesn't know what to say... It got quiet real fast, and it's bothering me... I put my hand on his left shoulder. Azul is shaking... “Trace, I... I want to help you. The way I see it, I can make it so you and Cleo don't have to fight as much... I'd feel terrible if something bad happened to one of you...” Ah, so he's one of those kinds of people. I see now.

“You want to protect people?” I say, hoping I understand him a bit better. Azul nodded.

“Yeah. I could try to protect my family and stuff, too. But... what if I mess up? What if I...” ...he's not gonna start crying or something, is he...? “I'm scared. I can't do it! All I can do is hope you'll be alright... I'm sorry...” Now he turns away from me, and... I think he's really starting to cry. I'm no good with this stuff. Why does he have to be so dramatic!?

“Hey! Look, Blue, it's okay! I'm gonna be fine!” I fake a smile. He can tell, though. I know it... “Don't worry about me. If you're worried about your family, you can take care of them if you think you need to. You don't have to make a choice now. I'm sure when it makes contact... you'll have your answer. I think I can trust you to make the right choice.” I look up and see the bus approaching. “It's getting late... Come on. Let's go home.”