Journal of the Amnesiac Wizard: A Setosorcerer/FyreUk/GoldSolace Story

- Entry #23: When Tempers Flare {Part Two of Two} -

"James, give me the staff," I said holding my hand out to him. I saw his grip tighten around it.

"Give it to Seto, James, you don't need it," Phil told him. James stepped back from me as I stepped towards him, I was not going to let him leave here and I'm prepared to do what I need to to ensure he doesn't leave here like this. There is no telling what could happen if I let James run away with the staff. I'm not letting a repeat of Merlin happen.

"James, please. Give it to me, I don't want to have to take it from you," I begged him. I don't want to have to fight James, he's my friend and friends don't fight each other. But I could tell, I could see...he was not going to give it up willingly. Whatever is going through his head, it's winning him over. In a split second, James pointed the staff towards me and fired a spell at me, it hit me square in the chest and knocked me back several feet and into a wall. I slid to the floor, the breath knocked out of me.

"James!" Phil shouted. I touch my chest, feeling a sting of pain hit me, and see blood on my fingers.

"Crap..." I mumbled under my breath. Whatever James hit me with hurts a whole lot. My eyes flickered up seeing that James had started walking slowly towards me. Phil looked back and forth between us, he wasn't sure what to do. "P-Phil, don't intervene. We don't know what would happen if you touched the staff."

"But you--Are you okay?" Phil asked me. I didn't answer, my eyes were trained onto James. How do I break him out of whatever trance he seems to be under? How did Reed break him out of his trances before? Well, this is different from whatever James was under before, the staff has gotten into his head. I know how it feels, the power in that staff is immense, I can't imagine how tempting and/or addicting it feels to an athar wizard, wizards who crave more power. James stood in front of me, looking down at me and I didn't move. I just stared at him as he pointed Nicholas's staff down at me. Phil started rushing towards us. "No, James, don't!" he shouted as the staff started to radiate a reddish aura.

My eyes looked at his, and I saw the troubled expression, his hand to his face like he is conflicted and my hopes renewed. I reached out and grabbed the staff and I flinch when I felt a surge of dark power hit me. What happened to the light energy in it? What happened to the good side of the staff? "Do it," I told James and I saw the man flinch at my words.

"Seto!" Phil shouted.

"Stay out of this, Phil," I told him. I focused my power on the staff, hoping to cancel out whatever effect or thing has taken hold of James. James suddenly pushed the staff forward, pressing the top of it against my chest as he stared at me. I grabbed ahold of the staff with both hands. "James, let go."

Phil grabbed James' arms which made the man look at the earth wizard. "Let go of it, please, brother. You don't need it. Seto is our friend, not the enemy," he said. I slightly pulled on the staff and slowly but surely, James let go of it. Phil pulled James away from me as I let the staff clatter onto the ground with a hold of it.

James breathed heavily as he stared at his hands. "W-Wha...was..." he mumbled. Then he looked at me. "Seto, are you--"

"I'm fine, I'm okay, how are you?" I asked him since I knew he could see the aftermath of him blasting me into the wall with the staff. But James didn't answer me, he just looked away from me, almost like he was ashamed of himself.

"We need to get out of here, are you okay?" Phil asked me. I nodded as I pulled myself up to myself. My chest ached and there was still some bleeding but I'm good, most of the pain is gone. But I need to make sure to never let any of the Fyre Brothers hold my staff ever again. I know I let Shiro, Violet, and Tiffany hold it before, and they were fine, it must just be because the Fyre Brothers are athar wizards that it affects them. "James--"