We Can Be Heroes ...?

21

Everything had turned black again, only this time, instead of it feeling like a blackness of nothing, it felt like a blackness that had something. What, Shion couldn't tell. Opening her eyes had helped nothing. Whether closed or open, the blackness appeared absolute. Absolute, that is, until a man appeared. A slightly overweight man, with hair that looked as though he had thought about brushing it, but the hair had other ideas. In his hand, he held a rectangular object and his fingers played across it before he looked up.

"Ah, there you are!" He performed the action with his fingers again and puffed out his cheeks before looking up and smiling. "Not to worry, we'll have you back in place before long and you won't remember any of this. Promise."

"Where am I? Who are you?" Shion tried to move, but she wasn't sure she did, or was held still by some force. It felt like she moved, and didn't. "I have to get back. They need me!"

"You're in a safe place. Don't worry." That didn't stop Shion worrying. "I'm Bernard, by the way, not that you'll remember as soon as we ... oh. Well, that's unexpected. Bear with me, I'll ..."

The blackness disappeared and Shion sat upright with a snap. Breath reentered her lungs and she continued to gasp despite the life-giving air filling her. Mila stood above her, pressing something against Shion's chest. A gem of some kind but, as she looked, the gem began to crumble and fall from Mila's fingers. Sounds had also returned and the roar that crashed against her ears made her tremble.

"Get up! Heal them while I ..." Mila flew away, the sweeping, knife-fingered hand smashing into her and tossing her away.

The giant skeleton stood above her, but didn't seem to see her. It lifted an enormous leg, stepping over her as it lumbered toward where Mila had landed, the red bar above her head reduced to almost nothing. Shion reached out, trying to send vital healing powers that way, but, as she looked at her hand, it looked ghostly. See-through.

A strange noise sounded and Shion found herself rising from the ground, hanging in the air. Then another noise reached her ears and her body became solid once more. Even as her feet touched back down to the ground, she had already started to send her healing spell toward Mila and, this time, the magical energy shot out from her palm, striking Mila in the chest and the twin's red bar almost reached half-way.

Shion couldn't wait to see whether Mila was alright, she had mentioned healing the others and Shion twisted her head to look for them. Dave lay upon the ground only a few feet away, his red bar almost gone. Jova a few feet further away and her red bar looked almost as empty. While unconscious, the creature had almost killed her friends.

In a rush, she ran to Dave's side, pressing her hand to his chest, giving him as much of her energy as she could, praying that the creature did not return while she had her back turned. The wait for Dave's red bar to fill felt like a lifetime and, by the time it reached three-quarters full, she decided Jova needed the healing now more than Dave.

As soon as her hand left Dave's chest, he jumped to his feet, racing away to the sounds of battle behind Shion, but she couldn't look. Jova looked unconscious, her red bar, her health bar, almost entirely gone. It began to blink and Shion could only assume that was a bad thing. Her legs moved faster than ever to reach Jova's side, collapsing to her knees, pressing both hands upon Jova's chest. It strained her like never before, but she gave Jova everything she had until she could give no more.

"Ooh, you! Getting a sneaky grope in." Jova's eyes opened, a grin crossing her face as she sat up, looking down at Shion's hands still on Jova's chest. "You better refill your magic. We're not done yet."

Rising to her feet, Jova reached behind her, her double-headed axe appearing and, with a yell, launched herself away, back behind Shion. Exhaustion filled Shion, finding it difficult to rise to her own feet. She knew what Jova meant. Somehow, she knew she had almost used up all her magic and, with the aid of her father's staff, she could replenish it and damage the monster, too.