Rebirth

Chapter 51: Dance of Flames

It didn't take long for me to rush back into the upper layer of the castle. It was much worse than I thought. To my surprise, there was no army. It was just Amaterasu, Luna, and the family wolf known as Beowulf. His hair had grown a bit, and his face held a five o'clock shadow. His eyes were tired, and his demeanor was relaxed. I couldn't tell if he held any remorse for what he was doing and was apologizing silently, or he was so confident and careless about what he was doing.

I had to hand it to them, they did work fast. The guards in the lobby were all down, clutching their sides, shoulders and even legs in pain. I couldn't sense any magic, and didn't smell any wolves, so I put aside the idea of the guild being attacked. They were probably further back in the castle, still gathering themselves together. Which would mean I was stalling for time.

Slowly, gathering my thoughts, I started stepping over the bodies nearby, my eyes locked on the trio. They all caught my gaze, the only one smiling being Amaterasu. He had been looking forward to this, and honestly, so have I. The assassin was no problem, so I still had a full tank of magic at my disposal. I was just worried I could cut loose and not have to hold back anything. Something told me I wouldn't want to, not with him.

"So, the man of the hour has finally arrived," Amaterasu said, stepping forward and clapping his hands. When he spoke, his voice rung familiar when it hit my ears, but I couldn't place where I heard it before. Luna shifted her eyes slightly uncomfortably, as did Beowulf. My eyes glanced at him then. His emotions seemed all over the place. It seemed his thoughts were scrambled.

"Dad, Luna. Go find his friends, please. I want this time alone with him." He said. Luna touched his arm, nodding, then her and Beowulf left towards the right corridor. Hopefully they wouldn't be an issue.

"So then.. Here we are.. I hope you're prepared for this.."

I brushed my chest, glowing faintly as my clothes swapped. I was wearing my white and violet outfit, my slightly baggy pants touching the top of my boots. The short sleeve hoodie I was wearing was warm inside, with thin fur along the edges. I looked at my right arm, smiling at the bandage wraps around the muscle. "Much better."

"I guess you like the more rough look. I guess you've changed more than I thought."

I looked at him then. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, poor, poor Justin. You really don't remember? The school.. The last sight of your precious little friends.. The fact I attacked you all for breaking Luna's heart."

Time seemingly froze. My eyes were locked on him, stunned. "You can't be..."

"Aliases help greatly, don't they? I had a good idea of the power you'd accumulate. I didn't think it'd be this great, or that you'd revive anyone else when you restarted everything."

"Leo... Leonardo..."

"Bingo!" He said, smiling wide and twisted. "You failed twice. I didn't think it was possible for you to do that, even though you said you wanted to-" I appeared in front of him, our eyes inches apart. If I hadn't known, I might've let him ramble on more. Now that I know who he is, and the dangers he presents, I wasn't in the mood for any of it. My fist slammed into his collarbone, flames shooting out from my elbow, pushing my punch forward. Behind me, the guards were blown away, slamming into the walls from the impact. Leonardo cried out, flying back through the massive doors of the castle. He landed, flipping, sending a massive green fireball towards me. Growling, I rose my hand quickly, my white flames swallowing his fireball and incinerating it.

His eyes widened, slightly shocked. "How.. How is that possible? You couldn't be powerful enough to incinerate Purgatory flames!"

I looked at my hands, a gentle warmth enveloping me. I closed my eyes, exhaling calmly. "If I had to guess.... I'd say Porrelth knew something like this would happen."

"Porrelth?.. That damn fire dragon." Leonardo stood, brushing the dirt from his chest. "Hmph. Oh well, I wanted this to be quick. Guess I'm gonna have to take my time."

"If you can," I retorted, watching him coldly. Strangely, I could feel my irises slit some, and my vision grow sharper. My hair began flowing slightly, the air getting thick with heat between the two of us. The doors to the castle started melting as a result of this, and I smirked confidently then. "Finally.. I can fight back.."

"It was one sided before, and now, it continues to be. Don't think just because you can use magic that you're my equal."

"You were born with power. Once I got here, I had to train and earn it. I've gone through to get to this stage..." I crouched, the floor cracking beneath my foot. "And now, I can fight you full on."

He started running at me, Purgatory flames surrounding him. I charged next, white flames swallowing me. We slammed against one another, our forearms clashing and a burst of heat shooting out around us. I dodged his punch, flipping, and landing a kick to his chest. He stumbled back, holding himself together, gritting his teeth. He roared, fingers shooting around in a pattern. I watched for a moment, then cried out when a flame needle pierced my side. Ripping myself free, and using my flames to sear the wound, I ran forward, dodging the next incoming needle. Moving my head swiftly, the next flame needle cut my cheek. Ignoring the blood, I raced forward, through a kick. Leonardo caught my foot, the our flames mixing and swirling around us. He looked at them, and in that moment, my hands touched the ground, and I used my momentum to bring my other foot up and strike his chin, setting myself free. I ran around, grabbing him in a headlock.

"What the hell! Let me go!"

"Not a chance!" I had an idea. I was taught to consume flames by Porrelth. If I could eat the flames he produced, I could use that short burst of magic power to counter against him. Taking a deep breath, I slowly began inhaling the flames around him. This could work. I could drain him of his magic this way and beat him. Then I could make my way towards the others and....

I stopped, eyes widening. My grip on Leonardo loosened, and I stepped back, clutching my head and throat, roaring loudly in pain. He snickered, then laughed loudly at me, grinning widely and eyes sharp. "Thought you could eat my flames?! How dumb are you!"

"That fire.. Ain't normal..."

"It's called Purgatory flames for a reason. If you ain't trained in the Purgatory arts, you ain't consuming these flames."

"Damn it.." I growled, flames bursting up higher.

"Aw, little Justin is mad now!"

I kept quiet, taking a deep breath and relaxing myself. "Mad? Not even close."
"Heh, if you say so. I'd be more worried about your friends."
I smirked then, wiping the corner of my mouth. "No need to. I have faith in them."

"Oh, is that right? You know Luna, you should understand how powerful she could be now."

"I spent a year training, to beat all of you and stop whatever it was you were planning. I was given a second chance, to do something right with my life, and I'm going to use it."

He watched me, then, sat on the rock behind him, his eyes locked on me. "You honestly believe all of this happened by sheer accident?"

"What do you mean.. You think I consciously brought everyone here?"

"No. I don't..." He watched me, then grinned widely, and sent a slight chill down my spine, but I stayed firm. "I don't think you did this consciously.. Because it was apart of the plan for us to harvest your abilities."