Two Strands of Fortune

Season 2 Episode 15 - A Much-needed Distraction

[ERIC'S POV]

For some reason, I felt compelled to have both Ezekiel and Dylan over on a Wednesday night. Dylan and I agreed to do our homework first, and then to entertain Ezekiel afterward.
"What is this foul Mathematics?" Ezekiel asked.
"It's not foul. It's just called Maths Lit." I explained.
"It's word sums and applying Math to real world situations." Dylan joined in.
"Back in my day it was all so theoretical." Ezekiel picked up my calculator. "We didn't have these strange devices. What do you call these?"
"It's a calculator. It helps us with the bigger sums." Dylan demonstrated a simple example on their calculator.
"What sorcery is this?" Ezekiel looked interested and intrigued by the device in his hand. It was entertaining watching Ezekiel's mind explode at the sight of the calculator. "Instant Mathematics? This is unknown to me."
"A lot of things are unknown to you now. Welcome to the modern era." I teased.
We finished up with our homework and headed into the backyard. We laid down on the grass and stared up at the sky. I looked over at Dylan and saw how distant they looked. This whole Oliver-thing has probably taken a toll on them. Suddenly, the ground started to feel warm. Then it escalated to boiling hot. The three of us jumped up and ran back inside.
"Were you doing that?" I asked.
"Absolutely not. I can't conjure something that hot. Not yet." Dylan pleaded.
The grass started to rot and decay. That was new.
"I recognise this." Ezekiel squinted at the grass. "Dylan, we need to get out there."
"What? Why?" Dylan frowned.
"Look at the grass and tell me an Anti-Elemental isn't coming." Ezekiel fussed.
"Fine. Let's go." Dylan stood up from their crouched position and stepped back from me. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Ezekiel stood up and joined them. "Ready?" Dylan nodded. "Umbra!/Element Summon!" After a flash they were ready to go. They flew out into the backyard, and just like they predicted, Furia showed up.
"Don't you like the garden like this?" Furia barked.
"Not really," Dylan shook their head. They conjured balls of energy in their palms and brought all the heat from the grass below inside them. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the garden!" Dylan exclaimed as they blasted the balls of heat at Furia in the form of a powerful vortex. Furia somehow managed to hold his own against the vortex of red energy. Dylan grunted passionately as they pushed to intensify the blast. "Ezekiel, whatever you're planning, now is the time!"
Ezekiel nodded enthusiastically. He brought his hands together in front of him and yelled "Shadow Deception!" He broke the link between his hands and shadowy silhouettes instantaneously emerged from his as the distance between his hands widened. The dark figures regained definition and took the shape of Ezekiel. Furia was distracted for long enough by the clones that he broke his focus and accidentally let the blast hit him. Even though the blast looked powerful, it merely knocked him back. The Ezekiel clones opened their arms up and declared triumphantly, "Now, this is a fair fight."