Chapter 34
•Alex's P.O.V•
"Mr Bliss...?" I stood staring at the head of discipline in pure surprise. He smirked, taking a step towards me with a sinister glint in his eyes.
"The one and only." He said, almost with a brand new personality. I knew the man walking towards me as the strict, serious, rule-obsessed head of discipline, but looking at him now, I saw a different person. I couldn't recognise him anymore... His wicked grin, the evil glimmer in his eyes, one of which I noticed was pale and colorless compared to the other. I opened my hand and tried to ignite a flame. Nothing. I started to panic.
"You're probably wondering what's going on, aren't you?" Bliss asked, his voice surprisingly calm. I took a step back.
"Yeah. Why did you ambush me in your office? Why did you bring me here?" I asked, trying desperately to hide the fear in my voice.
"First of all, you shouldn't have been in my office to begin with, Alex, so that one's on you." He taunted. I suddenly felt stupid for sneaking around. What was I thinking!?
"And secondly, I brought you here because the arena is the furthest building from the dorm rooms. No one to interrupt, no one to hear you scream, no one to call for help. That will give the two of us some...privacy." Bliss said wickedly, now only a few feet in front of me. For every step he took toward me, I took two steps backward, all while desperately trying to light a flame in my hand.
"What do you want from me?" I asked, taking a deep breath. Bliss stopped, his eyes emitting a soft purple glow.
"Well, that's simple." We said. He outstretched his hand towards me and I suddenly felt my body lock into place again, unable to move. I tried to remain as calm as I could.
"I want you..." he started, walking up to me until his face was a few inches away from mine. "...to die."
"You what!?"
"You read the prophecy, right?" He said, his rancid breath hitting the back of my throat. "You are the prophesied 'Red-Haired Hero' destined to save the Elemental Realm from the Corrupted King. As long as you're still alive and well, you pose a risk."
"A risk? To who?"
He chuckled, before taking a step back. I watched as he pulled his sleeve up to his elbow, revealing a strange mark on his forearm. One that I didn't recognise.
"This, my curious little flare, is the mark of an overlord with power you couldn't fathom, even if you tried. A man so cruel many fear to speak his name, as if it doing so would summon him to wreak havoc. A man with the ability to destroy anything and everything with one touch." Bliss boasted. It didn't take long at all to figure out who he was talking about.
"No..."
"You know exactly who I'm talking about, don't you, Alex?"
"N-No, you...it can't be-"
"Oh, but it is, my dear boy." He started making his way towards me, pulling his sleeve back to his wrist.
"I am a humble servant of the Corrupted King."
"For someone so humble, you sure do taunt a lot." I rolled my eyes. Bliss's face went red in offense. He took one more step towards me, his eyes glowing menacingly. I stayed calm, my eyes glowing a bright red-ish orange.
"You little-"
"Flamewave!"
I cut him off, as a glowing oramge aura enveloped my body. With a bright burst, a roaring wave of flame rippled from my body in all directions. The flames hit Bliss with a loud explosion, forcing him back. I suddenly had control over my body again. I looked down at my hands, opening and closing them, panting.
"Oh god, that really does need a lot of power. I can't believe that worked-"
I was cut of by sphere of purple energy hitting my stomach. I let out a painful groan as I was forced back, stumbling. I quickly got up, clutching my stomach in pain, winded.
"Ouch." I growled. I lifted my head to see Bliss walking towards me, an angry scowl spread across his face.
"That attack caught me by surprise, I'll admit. But you won't get another lucky shot like that, Fier."
With that, he disappeared. I readied a ball of flame in each of my palms. I then felt a presence behind me and thrust my hands downward, propelling myself into the air like a rocket, narrowly missing a punch from Bliss. He growled and looked up at me before disappearing again. A split second later, I propelled myself forward with my flames as Bliss appeared behind me. I dodged another attack, before he disappeared once again, reappearing back on the arena tile under me.
'Must not be as nimble in the air...' I thought to myself. He shot an energy sphere at me. I dodged it easily. As I steadied myself in the air, I felt another energy ball colliding with my back. I lost balance for a split second, only to feel my body to be stuck in place again. The flames in my hands got put put as my body was brought towards the ground in front of Bliss's unamused face.
"You're making this so much more difficult than it needs to be, Fier." He growled. He then threw me to the side with his telekinesis. I crashed into the arena wall. Dust and smoke scattered from the wall as bits of concrete fell to the ground. I felt winded. I fell to the ground after a second, landing painfully on my side. I groaned, trying to pick myself up. The pain in my back made it difficult. It didn't help that my head was also pounding.
"Okay, that hurt..." I muttered, trying to balance myself. I caught sight of Bliss making his way towards me through the smoke. As he got closer, I tried to create a flame in my hands.
"Come on, come on!" I muttered desperately. A small flame danced in my palm.
"Yes!"
It danced, then flickered, then went out.
"No!"
A purple glow held my body in place. I then felt my body straightening until I was now hovering a foot off the ground like a toothpick. Bliss made his way to me, a few feet away.
'Mr Silva said not to use flamewave more than once because of how much power it requires...' I thought to myself. Bliss took another few steps towards me. His eyes puerced through the settling dust.
'...but do I have a choice?'
Bliss took one more step towards me, now a foot or two away from me. He was within range, closer than I would've liked, but in range nonetheless. My eyes glowed again. I took a deep breath.
"Flamewave!"
A radiant burst of flame erupted from my body again, forcing Bliss to stumble backward again, this time being forced back even farther. Once again, I was free of his telekinesis. I landed gently on the ground, holding on to my head as it began to pound harder. My body suddenly felt tired and I fell to my knees, drawing deep breaths. Bliss, still trying to recover to a second flamewave, tried to stand, only to stumble.
"This is my chance..."
I could take advantage of this. While Bliss was recovering, I could make a run for one of the entrances and get help. Though, realistically, with the pain in my back and my splitting headache, I probably wouldn't get too far without Bliss catching me or teleporting behind me and dragging me back. Unless...
"I haven't had much practice with this new move, but it doesn't look like I have any other options right now." I muttered. I crouched over, getting myself into a running position. My eyes let off their vibrant glow again as small spurts of fire danced around the heels of my sneakers. I looked up. Bliss was on his feet. Still a bit dazed. He turned to me. I let out another breath.
"Okay, no time like the present, let's do this." I muttered. The flames at my heels started to grow rapidly, roaring behind me. I saw Bliss finally find his composure, then let loose.
"Fire dash!"
With a burst of flames, I sped across the arena at a remarkable speed, leaving a trail of fire behind me as I ran. Granted, I wasn't going as fast as I normally could when using this spell, or even half as fast as Zack would run, but it was as fast as my tired legs would go. I got closer to the exit, but as I got within ten feet of the gates to the arena, I tripped and tumbled across the concrete tiles. The flames at my feet went out. My entire body hurt. I tried to get up and run the rest of the way, but as I finally got to my feet, I felt myself being flung into a wall. More debris fell around me as all the air left my lungs once again. I took a deep breath as I fell to the ground, landing with a agonising thud. I let out a cry as I felt myself getting picked up again. My vision was a little blurry, but I could make out Bliss's tired expression.
"You know, of all the elementals I've met, you, by far, have to be the most annoying to deal with."
"Can you blame me for wanting to not die?"
I then let out an agonising cry as I felt my arm crack. My lower arm flopped to the ground, broken. I fought back tears as the excruciating pain rippled through my body. It wasn't like anything I've experienced before. Deep cuts and bruises I could handle, but this was a whole other level of pain. Through the tears I could see a bit of sadness in Bliss's expression, and a tiny bit of sympathy.
"This isn't easy for me either, Alex." He said sadly. "My master is more suited for committing acts like this. But it's not like I've never taken a life before." He clutched his arm, the same one that flopped broken at my side.
"I feel your pain, physically and emotionally, and it hurts me more than you'll ever know that I have to do this to someone so young, someone with so much potential."
"So you're really willing to kill me over some stupid prophecy?" I said. The pain didn't feel as excruciating as before, the adrenaline helped with that, but my heart was still pounding inside my chest. Bliss sighed.
"Look, we're both exhausted, and I know that there's nothing you could possibly try to escape me. So please, just make this easier for both of us and let me put you put of your misery."
I gritted my teeth. Bliss was right. As much as I wanted to try and run and get help, I couldn't. I was exhausted, my arm was broken, my head was pounding, my back ached, and there was no spell that could get me out of this. I felt the tears pooling in my eyes.
"You..." I whimpered, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Why...? Why are you doing this...?" I heard Bliss sigh and take a step towards me.
"Don't take this personally. I'm just doing as my master ordered." Bliss said.
"Why...?" I muttered. "Of all the people in this realm you could serve, why him?"
"What-"
"Do you know how much damage he's done? How many elementals he corrupted? How many innocent lives he's taken and destroyed?" I said, my voice starting to rise in anger.
"That man is a monster, he's irredeemable. So why, on God's green earth, would you choose to serve someone like him!?"
Bliss sighed. He turned to me and his gaze softened. "Because that monster saved my life."
I stared at Bliss with wide eyes. "What...?"
He set me down on the ground, letting me rest against the damaged wall. He still held my body in place with his telekinesis, but sat down a few feet away from me.
"I was in one of the first few villages he attacked. I was terrified. My body somehow lasted longer than the others who had gotten corrupted, so much longer that by the time I finally fell to the curse, everyone else had been killed. But, as I fell to the ground, that's when I saw him. For a while after that, everything went black..."
Bliss looked to the side, almost reminiscing. I noticed his cheeks flush a bit. For a second, he didn't seem so evil, not nearly as much as he had been a second ago.
"When I awoke I found myself tucked into a warm bed with my entire left arm bandaged. Then I saw him, watching over me with such intrigue. That's when he explained that he removed the corruption from my body and kept me in his castle, waiting for me to wake up. From there, I became his right-hand, as a way to make it up for what he's done for me." He stood up, letting out a long sigh.
"I owe my life to him. If it weren't for him then I'd be among all the other corpses that suffered his wrath. He gave me a second chance at life. This is my way of paying him back."
"So, why go through all this trouble to kill me? Why does he want me dead so much when I didn't even do anything?"
"Because you're a threat to him." Bliss said. "You have immense power, Alex, power that could rival that of the Corrupted King if you truly master it. And any threat to him is a threat to me. I'm sorry, but I can't let you live."
I chuckled, another tear running down my cheek. "So, this is really it, huh? I'm really gonna die here?" Bliss took two steps back, his eyes glowing slightly brighter.
"Farewell, Alexander Fier. Forgive me." His outstretched hands glowed. I felt a few more tears run down my cheek as I closed my eyes tightly, waiting for Bliss to deliver the finishing blow.
Except...it never came.
Instead, I heard an explosion of flame and a cry of pain. I quickly opened my eyes in time to see Bliss getting propelled to the side by...a fireball?
A fireball...
I looked to the side, and a feeling of relief suddenly washed over me. More tears fell down my cheeks, but not due to fear or pain. For a split second, everything seemed to move in slow motion. There stood my grandfather, his eyes glowing a piercing red and his hand outstretched. Beside him was Nurse Evergreen, Mr Silva, Coach Beast and Professor Saladin, the head of the Department of Mind at Arceus.
I was saved...
"Grandpa..." I whispered. My eyes suddenly felt heavy. My entire body started to feel fatigued. I lost feeling in my fingertips. The adrenaline wore off and the pain started again, but the exhaustion prevented me from feeling any of it. Instead, I flopped to the side of my unbroken arm. Everything slowly started to fade to black, not before I caught a glimpse of someone rushing towards me in a panic. My vision started to blur before I could see their face though.
The last thing I remember was the soft ringing in my ears, before everything faded to black.
~~~~~
Author's Notes
I'll be honest, this is NOT how I thought I'd end this chapter off when I started writing. I also didn't think that I'd end up scarring Alex the way I did, but oh well. [Poor kid, I kinda wanna give him a hug] Causing the main character trauma aside, I really had fun with this one. I didn't initially want Alex's arm to be broken, nor did I plan on writing that bit where Bliss explains his history with CK, but I'm glad I did. Adds a bit of depth to the main villain's right hand. Perhaps, that can be used in a later chapter, but I'll jump that hurdle when I get there. For now, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
-BlueBoyHalo14