A Story of Stone

Part III

Roy smiled at the young boy as he lifted a small rock off of a table without touching it. The boy's purple eyes widened.

"Dad! Dad, look! I'm doing it!" he said. But, his excitement made him lose his focus, and the stone fell back to the table.

The boy grinned at his father. "Did you see that Dad! I'm going to be as good as you someday."

"I hope you'll be even better than me. Now go brush your teeth, it's time for bed," Roy said.

Roy's son laughed joyously, and skipped away to the bathroom. Roy smiled after him. He never had wanted kids, but Phoenix had convinced him. Roy was glad she had, but sometimes it hurt to look at little Will. Sometimes, something he'd say, or something he'd do reminded Roy of his namesake.

"He's learning quickly," his wife said as she walked into the training room.

"He is. I am a little worried about our other students. Mason still can't produce the smallest flame." Roy spun his wheelchair around to face her. Not using his hands, of course; those had been paralyzed too.

After the fight with Zacharias, Roy awoke to see his master dead in the nearby rubble, himself alive, but completely paralyzed.

So he had lied there, waiting, wanting to die again. He might have, if Nix hadn't woken up first. She crawled over to him. She shouted until a very confused neighbor finally showed up, and called for an ambulance. The nearly-dead teenagers were rushed to the hospital, where they didn't see each other for weeks.

Roy layed on the hospital bed, trying with all his effort to move his toes. It turned out that he had sustained major damage to his nervous system and muscular system, but miraculously his organs had remained intact, according to the doctor that had stopped by earlier.

Someone opened the door, quietly stepping through. Nix wore the same hospital gown as Roy did.

When she saw him, she cried with relief, kissed him straight on the lips, then told him the plan.

Roy might have thought something of the kiss, but he was too numb, physically and emotionally.

"We need to get out of here, before the police come to question us. We can't reveal what we know to the Stoneless. The forest is close, if we get there, we can get back to the Cave."

"Nix. I am still paralyzed," Roy said quietly.

A tear leaked out of her eye. "I know, Roy. We'll carry you." She kissed him again. She whispered, "We're gonna make it, Roy."

Roy realized that he had now had his first kiss. He still felt nothing. He was broken.

Thursday joined them, and Nix handed out their remaining Stones: one Fire, and two Electric. Roy wondered briefly how she had kept hold of them, but stopped himself. There were numerous ways that she could have smuggled them in.

They were on the bottom story, with the window facing the forest that surrounded Le Claire. The Mississippi was also near. Nix tried the window, only to find that it was sealed shut. She instantly crushed the last Firestone, and melted through the window. Thursday and Nix carried Roy through the window, walking in the shallows of the river, not stopping until the hospital was no longer in sight.

The two of them gently laid Roy down in the dirt, panting breathlessly. "We need to find Mason's truck; it's the only way we'll get back to the Cave and be safe," Nix said.

"Wait. Just...wait. What happened? How are we still alive? I should be dead..." Roy said softly.

Thursday looked at him, confusion showing on his face. "Yeah. I guess Stone-resistance is a lot more powerful than I thought. Because he fought me with lightning, I guess it made me immune to dying. Just way too close to it."