Elements Volume 2 (Light Novel), page 10
But that was not about to stop him from interfering in the battle, despite Jules' orders.
Minisc caught a blur out of the corner of his eye. He spun around crossing his arms to block a punch that sent him skidding back along the pavement. He opened his eyes again, seeing Bex holding her punching position.
She had an off-putting smile as she spoke. "You have some nerve sneaking up on me, kid." She paused, her face turning to glee as she recognized who had been the recipient of her punch.
"Minisc Premier... oh this is too perfect. Brooklyn is gonna love when I drag you back in a bloody heap." She started to skip forward. Each step came with a small pat on the pavement and made Minisc's heart skip a beat.
"Stay back! " Minisc yelled throwing his left hand forward. A Lum Bomb exploded in Bex's direction but she paid it no mind. With a swift punch, she ripped her fist through the ball, letting it evaporate into the ominous sky.
"Wow, that's just pathetic. For The Hero of Light's son, I figured you would pack a little more punch than that."
Minisc stood holding his fists up, looking less than confident. I know if I hadn't come as soon as I did, Jules most likely wouldn't have survived... but Lily was right, this was reckless. I should've brought backup... I don't even know if I'm fully recovered from the finals yet.
On the outside, Minisc appeared to be paralyzed with fear, but on the inside, his mind raced back and forth working out a strategy for his and Jules' escape. Struggling to remain calm, he heard Jules cry out in frustration.
"Minisc, you need to get away from here. This fight has nothing to do with you. This is my job; I'm the one that's supposed to get revenge for Yuri. He's in the hospital because of my stupidity, he lost his element because of me... I must be the one to avenge him! "
"Wait... He lost his element? What do you mean?" Minisc asked.
But before he could get an answer Bex attempted a punch to his gut. He dodged just in time doing his best to keep himself between Jules and Bex. It was the only way he could protect his friend.
"That psycho has a needle that can wipe out your element. If she injects you with it, you're done for."
Lose my element... but how... now it makes sense, they wanted to use that serum on Father... I need to be careful. If I lose my element, I'm as good as done for, and so is Jules.
Minisc fired off another weak blast keeping Bex away from his friend.
"Look Jules, lose my element or not, I'm not going anywhere. None of this is your fault, and it never has been. I was the one who ran in to save my father, if I hadn't done that none of this would have happened. So, whether you want to admit it or not, this is my fight just as much as it is yours!"
Bex made a gagging sound, "All this teary-eyed drama is really starting to make me sick." She swung high with a fist covered in ice, but Minisc slid through her legs before her punch could land. She spun around freezing the ground behind her with a seismic blast.
"He's gone?" She looked around frantically and in fractions of a second, a glistening light caught her attention. She looked to the sky just in time to see Minisc dropping down, his left fist - a glistening gold light shining from it - smashing into the iced pavement as she leaped out of the way. The impact shook the ground like an earthquake cracking the ice with ease. He looked up from one knee gripping his hand tightly. He could feel the power of his element pumping through his veins even more so than usual. Now all he had to do was keep it up. "Looks like full strength to me. Good. No need to hold back then."
His eyes shot darts at Bex, a look of confidence growing. At full power, he not only could buy enough time for help to arrive but even possibly win.
Sadly, such confidence quickly became false hope as he tried to take a step forward but couldn't move. He looked down at his feet, but that's impossible, I didn't even blink, how did she manage to freeze my feet in place. The ice crawled halfway up his thigh, making any motion outside of his arms impossible. He began to squirm, swinging at the ice with fists of gold but to no avail. The feeling of his lower half began to numb.
Bex's tone shifted as she talked. Her usual giddy lust for terror turned into spiteful anger. "You're not as clever as you think, kid," she began walking by Minisc, leaving him stuck in place. "You know, I'd just as much kill you first, but where's the fun in that? It'd be more fun to have you watch your friend suffer."
Bex grew tired of screwing around with the boys so she set her sights on Jules, and nothing would stop her.
"Stay away from him you monster!" Minisc cried out. He felt completely useless not being able to protect his friend. Despite trying to draw out every last ounce of energy he could, the ice coating his lower body would not crack. Perhaps he was not entirely recovered after all.
Bex loomed over Jules placing her cold slick hand on his face almost caressing it. She turned to look at Minisc making sure to keep her hand firmly on Jules' cheek.
"Saviour this moment, Minisc, I'm gonna make sure it's as slow and painful as possible. And there's nothing you can do about it! "
"I said leave him alone!" Minisc fired off a small ball of light towards Bex's back, but she spun around knocking it away.
However, before Bex could inflict her punishment, a blaze of fire ripped along the ground of the railyard. She leaped back from Jules once again, summoning a wall of ice to protect herself from mortal damage.
"Someone else to kill... this day just gets better and better," She muttered sarcastically.
"Fire...?" Minisc whispered in shock. Could somebody else have heard the battle and came to their rescue? Either way, he still needed to free himself, and with the warmth of the flames on the ground, his chance arrived.
The heat must have melted the ice enough for me to move. Looks like I can fight again. A burst of light exploded from his body shattering the ice and granting his freedom. He turned to hear the patter of footsteps as a figure around his height and size appeared out of the shadows.
"Coro?" Minisc said, shocked.
"Looks like I made it just in time." Coro rushed into the battle zone with a look of determination. "If it hadn't been for Lily, I would've never found you two. Next time, how about you try to pick a more open area for a fight? Then again, I'm guessing you didn't get much choice in this battle."
Coro ran up next to Minisc and raised his fists. Fire radiated off them.
As Minisc looked at his backup he said a silent prayer. Thank you... Lily.
"She said the two of you might be in danger and need my help. Looks like she was right in her assessment. She's retrieving your father as we speak, so we just need to hold out till then." Coro turned to eye Bex. "So you couldn't kill us at the Tournament of Elements like you planned, and now you're back for round two. Fine by me; I still have a bone to pick with you Luminosa scum." He looked at Jules who remained frozen on the ground, and then at the newly freed Minisc.
"Be careful Coro, she's more dangerous than-"
Before Minisc could warn his partner Coro felt a graze nick him. A shrill icicle flew past his face, cutting his cheek open.
Bex leaped into the air ready to strike again, but Coro erupted into bright flames causing her to change course on her landing.
"Nice to see you're finally willing to fight with your fire... we're gonna need it if we want to survive this," Minisc said.
Jules could only watch as the two fought to protect his life. Normally he would feel proud to have such tremendous friends alongside him, but in his mind, he remained convinced the duty to avenge his brother was his. Nothing else would suffice.
"Coro... Minisc," Jules yelled again, "You need to get out of here right now! This fight is mine, and mine alone. I'll continue where my brother couldn't. I will defeat this monster. Not you guys! " A small warm tear rolled down his cheek as he tried even harder to push himself off the cold harsh ground. Although the ice melted enough for Minisc to break free, Jules still lacked the strength to escape.
Minisc stood in front of Jules hearing his friend's words. He didn't know how to respond. He understood the pain and frustration his friend had bottled up inside. Although he tried to run from his guilt, Jules appeared dead-set on exacting revenge at all costs, life or death.
On the other hand, Coro held less sentiment as he scolded Jules for his request.
"You idiot. Do you really think this is what Yuri wanted? His little brother getting recklessly killed by Luminosa because of a personal vendetta? Yuri saved my life just as much as he did yours. He saved all of us with his courage. This though, this isn't courage. Begging to fight alone only to die, that's the furthest thing from what Yuri would've wanted."
Coro switched from his flames to his ice, sending a storm of icicles through the enclosed battle arena. He continued to keep Bex at bay while Minisc scattered in a few attacks of his own.
Bex braced herself as the ice smashed into her arms, leaving them dripping in blood.
"You... I knew you looked familiar. You're that damn Doctor's son. So, what's the deal? I thought Bronx was supposed to deal with you..."
"I beat him the same way I'll beat you. And once I'm through with that, you're gonna tell me exactly where you're keeping my father!"
Bex held her hand high in the air with small arrows carved out of ice materializing in waves. The arrows soared through the air like archers on a firing line. Wave after wave headed towards Coro. In response, Coro threw up a wall of fire, melting the incoming barrage for both him and Minisc. But with their visions blocked, they heard the cold, menacing voice of Bex through the flames. "Must be hard to protect your friend if you can't see me. Rookie move."
As soon as Minisc heard the words he understood what Bex intended. "Coro drop the fire!" He ordered, bolting towards the flame wall.
Confused but given no time for an explanation and even less time for error, Coro cut the flames, dropping them just low enough for Minisc to leap over.
"I said stay away from him! "
Smash.
Minisc landed a few feet away from Jules as Bex went crashing into the back wall of the yard.
He let out a wince as he ran his finger along the bottom of his forearm. A small, thin scrape in the shape of a straight line ran up his arm. It looked relatively harmless but still provided a good source of pain as blood faintly dripped to the concrete. His time to exam the wound, however, was less than seconds as Coro shouted "Minisc jump!" as he saw Bex hunched over in anger heading towards him.
Reacting to Coro's command just as fast, Minisc jumped high and to his left towards the wall.
With a direct line of attack, Coro cast a wave of flames in Bex's direction. Bex had nowhere to dodge, but she remained content with her position. Instead, she raised her left hand up, pushing the flames around her with ease.
"What, but how?" Minisc and Coro gawked in unison. To the naked eye, it looked like Bex created an invisible force field around herself, but Jules knew the true source of her power.
"Minisc, I don't know how she did it, but now she has a wind element as well! She's a dual Elementalist like Coro."
"No way..." Minisc side-eyed Coro. "I thought you were the only one around with dual elements. There are others?"
"There are now... Luminosa kidnapped my father."
"Oh, you have to be kidding me," Minisc groaned. He raised his fists but doubts of their survival rushed his mind.
"That's right, and with this kind of power the three of you are as good as dead!" Bex growled. She continued forward, the silly evil grin of hers firmly replaced with pure rage. She grew tired of messing around. The real fight was about to begin.
"Well Coro, any great ideas? Cause I'm all ears at this point," Minisc said through exhausted breaths.
"We know Lily is coming with more help on the way, so we don't need to win; all we need to do is buy time. I think our best course of action is to fight in close combat and keep her away from Jules."
"We can't..." Minisc uttered in frustration. "Remember that needle she stuck Yuri with at the tournament... Jules said it can erase your element, and she has one with her now. As long as she has that we need to maintain as much distance from her as we can."
Jules remained Minisc's top priority in the battle, but he refused to risk Coro's life either, so he started to think.
"I have an idea... but it's risky. I'll get in close and try to hold her off. Your elements are far more effective from a distance so you should be able to support me while keeping an eye on Jules. We need to keep her away from him at all costs."
"You realize the risk you're taking right? If she gets you with that needle, you'll lose your element."
Minisc looked at Coro with an almost satisfyingly confident smirk before speaking, "Yeah I know, but protecting Jules is all I really care about... besides, he always liked being an Elementalist more than I did anyways."
Seeing Minisc's resolve, Coro simply nodded in agreement.
Minisc took off, using his speed in hopes of maintaining an advantage. She may be stronger than me, but she looks just as tired as we are. I wonder if using two elements is draining her energy quicker than normal. In that case, I might actually be faster than her. I just need to keep her off balance and exhaust her so help has time to arrive.
Ready to fight again, Coro took one last look back at Jules. He could see the defeat on his classmate's face, the broken look Coro had carried himself for so long. He raised his hand and melted the ice encasing Jules.
"There, now are you going to help us or not?" Coro growled.
"Please Coro... just leave. It's too dangerous."
"You know I've heard enough of this crap Jules. Look... I understand your rage, the hatred you've built up towards Luminosa. I've been there with my own father. I get how narrow minded you become when all you want is revenge. To take that anger out on the person you hate more than anything. You become numb to everything else in life. But if you hold on to that pain forever, it will only consume you. As long as you chase this, you'll never find peace."
Coro followed up Minisc's speedy blows with a couple of targeted shards of ice. They were little more than a distraction for Bex, but that's all he aimed to do as Minisc made her defend in an enclosed area.
"Listen Jules. I still hate my father more than anyone on earth. He's a man guided by power and fame who only cares about himself. But he might hold the keys to stopping these monsters. If we can get him back from Luminosa, he might be able to help your brother, and we might be able to prevent anyone from suffering the way you and he have. I can put aside my resentment for the man if it means helping better our world. No matter how much I detest him. It sounds so simple now, but before I fought Minisc I couldn't understand it myself. My eyes remained shut. So, open your eyes, Jules. I know you have a score to settle, but there are far bigger things at stake than some grudge. If you want to make right by Yuri, then stop pleading for revenge and instead help us. You know deep down, Yuri would never have fought for revenge, he would have fought for the millions of lives he could save. If you really want to be like him, then get up and fight. Fight to protect everyone, the way he would have..."
"But..."
"Stop thinking you're the only one affected by these creeps and help us fight already!" Coro shouted.
The words hit Jules like a ton of bricks. His eyes widened as the words started to sink in.
Meanwhile, Bex struck Minisc with a punch to the gut before sending him crumpling against the wall with a blast of wind. Once again coming in to save Minisc's life, Coro sent a wall of fire between the two, melting Bex's incoming wave of ice shards.
"Coro, Minisc, I'm so sorry, all my stupidity. It just keeps getting people hurt... you don't deserve this." Jules tried to grip the ground with what energy he had left.
"Then quit apologizing and stand up. Fight! Fight for Yuri! Fight for Minisc and Lily! For everyone that's suffered at the hands of these monsters, stand up and fight!" Coro's flaming red aura began to light up the night sky as the intensity of his words grew.
Jules pushed his hand into the ground, grasping at the pebbles under his fingers. Tears were ready to stream down his cheeks as he continued to watch Minisc putting up a never-ending fight against the girl he hated most. All for him. To save him. The way Yuri would have. A warmth filled his heart for the first time in days, and strength began to fill his body. He got to one knee, then to his feet but remained hunched over, looking at the ground.
I really am nothing compared to you, Yuri. You always fought to defend others, never for revenge. And here I am pretending I'm anything like you. Meanwhile, Minisc and Coro continue to sacrifice themselves to save me. I've been so focused on stopping Luminosa for my own reasons, I completely overlooked the need to help my friends. Minisc, Coro... even Lily... I can't compare to any of you. I don't deserve you guys... but I'm really glad I have you.
Minisc remained hunched over letting the cold brick wall dull the pain in his body. He looked at Bex, but she had turned her attention back to Coro.
"That's it, kid, you're getting on my last nerve," she growled before sprinting at the other dual Elementalist. In response, Coro furiously chucked spear after spear of ice towards her but to no avail. Bex weaved in and out like a dancer and in no time, she was practically on top of Coro.
"When that cuckoo doctor said you would be strong, he wasn't kidding, but you still don't compare to me."
Bex licked the blood off her lips as she went in for a strike. Only thinking about protecting himself from a punch, Coro crossed his arms.
"Coro, look out!" Minisc cried, trying to warn him. "She still has the needle in her sleeve! "
Minisc desperately tried to find the willpower to stand up, but his muscles screamed in agony.
"Looks like it's your lucky day. You should've listened to the kid and ran! " Bex cackled, swinging down to plunge the needle into Coro's unprotected arm. She managed to scrape Coro with the pointed tip of the needle, drawing a drip of blood, but before she could push down on the syringe a gust of wind slammed her into a pile of garbage cans along the wall.
"Jules!" Minisc and Coro chimed in unison. They both stared as swirls of wind faded from underneath their friend.
