Young Magic Knight: Chapter 17 (Azul)

I wake up to a beautiful, yet cloudy morning. It's Saturday, so I don't need to go to school, but I've been invited to Primo's House, so I gotta go out, anyway. Not really worrying about why, I just get dressed and leave. I look out the window as I ride the bus, and see that all the snow is gone. It makes me happy... I'd hate to think of what would happen if we did nothing.

I eventually arrive. Trace, Cleo, and everyone else are already here. “Come in, Blue,” I hear Primo say from further inside. “I have something important to say.” I take a seat near Cleo. “Everyone, I have good news. Soon, your part in this will most likely come to an end. Salvator will be awakened today.”

What!? I don't know how to feel about this... If things work out, we can trust Savior to defeat Shadowhand, yes, but if something goes wrong, oh, are we in it deep...

“Uh... Primo?” I hear Trace say, probably concerned with the same thing I am.

“Yeah, Trace?”

“Are you sure we can trust Salvator? Like, he's not gonna come out and see us as the enemies, go all 'Kill 'em all! *pewpewpew*' on us, is he?”

Primo takes a long time to respond... as if he isn't sure what to say. “N... no, I'm sure that won't happen. With some exceptions, the others have turned out fine.”

“But Primo,” This time, it's my turn to speak. “my question is, what are we gonna do if that happens? Savior's supposed to be the strongest, right? If he does turn evil, we'll probably get slaughtered. Did you have some kind of backup plan for something like this?” Primo looks down... Dammit, he has no plan for something like that. I knew I should have prepared for this...

Suddenly, I hear something outside. I look out the front window. I see some sort of flame. Wait... “Primo, there's fire out there! Someone might be trying to burn the house down!” At this, we all run outside, and we're surprised by what we saw next...

Shadowhand. From what I can tell, there are about 14 of them. Ooh, boy, we're in deep... “How are you, ladies and gentlemen!” One of them says. “I regret to inform you that you are all pests.” The one saying this, a man, starts to glow. “...and all pests must be exterminated!”

He jumps, and his whole body seems to be on fire. From his hands, he shoots a fireball. Ah, so his powers are similar to mine. The flame approaches, but I quickly swat it away, like some troublesome fly. “I see. I was right to bring the whole team with me, I guess.” He doesn't seem all that surprised, in fact, maybe he expected me to do that. “You guys! I want that one! Nobody interfere!” He wants a one-on-one fight with me? He's so cocky... he smirks as I look at him. Arrogant creep. I'm going to enjoy wiping that look off his face!

“Everyone, let's go!” We charge. This is quite a chaotic fight. The sounds of combat can be heard all around me. Even the other Armis show up, aiding us in the battle. I, myself, take on the guy with the flames...

“I'm surprised you have the balls to take on my challenge and seemingly be serious about it. You really think you can take me, the Count of Shadowhand? Come! Let's see who's flame burns brigh--”

WHAM!

I throw my fist into his big mouth as hard as I can, leaving him shocked and on the ground. “You talk too much.” Looks like I struck a nerve... “Come on!” He gets up and the fists begin to fly.

POW POW POW! POW POW POW!

Punches, kicks, blocks, dodges, and parries... Our fistfight happens so fast the human eye would probably be unable to keep up. I start to mix things up and add fire to my attacks. After I start to burn him, he does the same.

Then, while he's so preoccupied with punching me, I slide my left foot behind his right leg, then quickly pull it away. As he falls, the look on his face is priceless. It sends the message of his shock that he's about to get destroyed better than any words can... “AZURE FIST!!!” 

POWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOWPOW!

I think that did it... With that, I'm off to help the others—

BAM!

I'm suddenly sent flying, and end up crashing right through the walls of the Strife House. “Azul! Are you alright!?” Before I'm able to respond, another fist flies into my face... and now I go through the other side. He's going to do it again. Stay calm...

WHOOSH!

...nothing. He was smart enough to not be right in front of me when he attacked again. To my left, there he is, ready to throw a punch. I see it and roll just in time.

“Azure. We've never worn the Mystic Coat, right?”

“No.”

“So let's try it right now. Mystic Coat!” In an instant, I'm covered in very light magic armor, and I feel even stronger and faster than usual. When I do this, I watch my opponent do the same thing.

We just stare at each other, waiting for one of us to make a move the other could exploit. Tired of this inactivity, I get an idea. At that moment, I take a deep breath... “What are you doin—wait... Ah, I see.” Azure's got the idea, so I go ahead and do it. A burst of fire from my mouth. He dodges, heads to the right, and comes toward me. I can barely see him, but I don't think he can see me very well, either. Gambling on this, I stick my whole arm out, run, and thrust it forward. WHAM! A clothesline. It connects.

He starts to get up... man, he's persistent. Although part of me doesn't like it, I decide to kick him while he's down. Well, actually, it's more like a punt. BAM! He goes flying a good 50 yards, at least.

Now that he's hanging in midair, helpless, I pursue. With one huge jump, I'm able to meet him in the sky, and set my fists and feet on as strong a fire my powers would let me... 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH...!” Faster than my eyes... faster than thought... my fists fly. In a instant, I just throw every punch my arms will let me at him, then finish off with a fierce kick, sending him crashing into the ground like a flaming meteor, leaving a crater the size of a small house.

CRASH!

The dust clears... and yet he still stands. I shouldn't be surprised, though. He's supposed to be one of the strongest of them, after all. Still, that last attack took a lot out of me. I don't know if I can keep this up...

For an instant, I see only a white blur. I would have looked over, to see what it was, but then... the Count's head falls off, and his neck produces a spray of blood as he falls to the ground... While I don't have the same crippling reaction as the last time I saw a dead body, I still feel sick looking at it... I now look over, to see what had caused that. It's Tercero.

“T-Tercero... Why?”

“What would you have done?” They say, as if this was something they've done a million times before. “Where you just going to keep knocking him down, so he could keep getting back up?”

“I...”

“He would have outlasted you.”

“You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Don't act cool.” I don't know why, but I feel as if this sentence stabbed through me, as if it were a sword. “You're starting to breathe heavily already.” I do feel extremely tired. Damn, Tercero's right...

“Hey! Is Blue alright?” It's Baek who comes to check on me. Tercero turns their attention away from me, and talks to him.

“All done?”

“Most of them have been captured, but...” Baek hesitates. “...the Prince and Princess have escaped. Are we going to go after them?”

Tercero shakes their head. “No need. Salvator is going to awaken soon, and we'll be done.” Suddenly, I feel even more sick... What was supposed to be relieving somehow feels more stressful than anything that's happened so far. I just have the worst feeling, somehow...

After we round up the captured Shadowhand, we all return to the lab, where the Savior would awaken. We just stand there, around the tube he was in. Waiting to see what happens. Then, he opens his eyes. I feel my heart speed up. It almost feels like it's going to burst. He breaks through the tube, spilling liquid and glass(?)all over the floor. He lands on his feet, and slowly stands upright. He looks at all of our faces with those same blue and red eyes that Primo has. When he looks at me, I somehow feel so scared, and at the same time, so safe...

So this is him. This terrifying, lifesaving power... This is the power of the Savior... Salvator.