Elementals 2: The Stones of Power

Chapter 19-Past Mistakes

Chapter 19

•Amaru's P.O.V•

I couldn't shake this heavy feeling as Alex shut the door behind him. Maybe it's the fear I saw in his eyes when I went Beast Mode, maybe it's just the lingering anger. Or maybe it was because of how similar he looked to...him. Whatever it was, it did not feel pleasant.

'Maybe I was too harsh on the kid...he looked terrified. Perhaps I overreacted. Should I go talk to him?'

"Right." Adrian turned to me. "This is a rather serious matter that we should-"

"You guys can discuss things without me. I'm outta here." I made my way past them towards the door. I could feel both of them staring at me with confusion.

"Excuse me?" Adrian asked. I stopped in the middle of the room and glanced back at them.

"I have things I need to take care of." I replied simply, turning back to the door. "You two can handle Alex's punishment."

"I understand." Koran said. "We'll take care of it then."

With that I made my way to he door, but hesitated just as I was about to step out.

"One more thing." I poked my head through the doorway. The two shot me puzzled looks.

"Yes?"

"...go easy on the kid, okay?"

The words sounded a lot sadder and more somber than I wanted them to. But, the two got the message and nodded. I smiled and walked through the doorway, closing the door behind me.

I looked down the hall. Sure enough, Alex was walking down towards the garden, hands in his pockets. I called out to him.

"Alex, wait!"

His body tensed before he turned to me, a nervous expression on his face.

"Oh, Coach Beast." He called back.

I closed the distance between us, getting a better view of his nervous expression, which up close was more scared than nervous. Not surprising to me.

"I'd like to have a word with you."

The kid didn't say anything for a bit. He just nodded timidly. I sighed.

"Ten years ago, back when I first got my job here as Arceus' Beast Handler, I was a bit more careless with the critters that I was meant to take care of. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved my job, but I didn't think I needed to pay as much attention to them then since I knew that they could take care of themselves, and that nearly cost them."

His expression softened, now one of curiosity rather than fear. He eased up a little. I continued.

"I forgot to activate the seal to the sanctuary gate one day, and on the same night, one of the students snuck into the sanctuary to play with their bonded animal. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of dozens of distant cries for help."

Alex's expression morphed into one of shock and sadness. I crossed my arms and sighed before I continued.

"I got there as fast as I could. When I did, the horror locked me in place; burning trees and terrified critters running all over the place trying to get to safety. I helped get as many of them to safety as possible."

I could feel myself tearing up as memories of that night began to replay in my head.

"But as much as I tried, there was one that I couldn't get to in time..."

"...I-I'm so sorry, Coach Beast. I-"

"Nah, don't worry about it, kid. Nothing you could'a done to stop it anyway." I wiped away the tear and took a shaky breath. "Besides, I managed to save most of 'em anyway, that's what counts. Koran dealt with the flames while Evelyn healed all the injured creatures and focused on reviving the sanctuary."

"What about that one animal? Couldn't Nurse Evergreen have revived it too?" The kid asked. I chuckled sadly.

"That's what I asked her." I sighed. "She told me that her revival magic only worked on plants. So, unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to aave him."

"That's horrible..." Alex murmured. "...what about the elemental that caused the fire in the first place?"

"He got suspended for the rest of the semester." I shrugged. "I honestly think he deserved much, much worse, but I couldn't argue with the headmaster."

"Is that why you got so angry?" Alex asked in a whisper. I nodded.

"I don't know what I would do or how I could ever live with myself if any of those critters got hurt because of my carelessness. That incident made me realize just how much more careful I needed to be. Protecting those little guys and keeping them happy is my purpose. So that night, I swore to myself that I wouldn't ever let something like that happen again..."

The air between us went silent for a moment. I glanced down at Alex who had his eyes on the ground, twiddling his thumbs, looking for something to say. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're a good kid, Alex. Your heart's in the right place. I know you'd never want to hurt any of those animals because you're just as fascinated with them as I am, which is really saying something." I smiled. He returned a smaller one.

"I'll let it slide this time, but please don't do that again."

"Got it." He nodded. "I won't. Promise."

The sound of the bell thing through the halls.

"Huh, is lunch over already?" I chuckled.

"Crap, I have to get to Herbology."

He snapped his fingers, his shook bag appearing on his back in his signiture burst of flame. "See you tomorrow, sir."

With that, the boy hurried off to his next class, leaving me in the hallway with a soft smile on my face. That heavy feeling began to fade as I turned on my heels and made my way to my sanctuary.

~~~~~

Author's Notes

2 chapters in 1 day? This is a first. I really wanted to add this to the previous chapter, but I'm trying to take it a little easier with my word count. The previous one would've be been 3000 words otherwise. However, the moment I finished the last chapter I knew I had to write this one. It's a bit shorter than what I normally write, but I still enjoyed it all the same. I also got to expand on Coach Beast's character, which I've been wanting to do for a while. I'm super glad I did. Who knows, we might find out more about him, and other characters, as the story progresses. Either that or I'll hyperfixate on something else entirely.

-BlueBoyHalo14