Tale of Chaos 2: This War of Ours

Chapter 8: Reprise

Forestra's POV

I really, really wanted to stay home, but something was trying to pull me to school. I could do whatever I wanted at home, but school... I really felt like going for some reason. What was pulling me back?

Perhaps my friends and Mai-----

Maia was no longer with us.

I still hadn't gotten over her death.

I felt torn that she was gone, but at least I was feeling a bit better than during the funeral.

But I was still depressed.

And suicidal...

I made up my mind.

I need to go to school the next day. I don't even know why...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, Pyroclast and Riverflow were absent that day. I knew that the two were suspended, but I still thought that they would be there. The girl who once was my popular classmate and the boy who kept bringing that rock to school - yes, I knew, and yes, I found it a bit weird - would no longer attend school. At least for a while. I didn't know for how long, however.

Then there was Blackout, Spotlight, Rocksworth, Cyclone, and Arcmagos. They were clearly not in their right minds the last time I heard from them.

But I did see Eon. A few minutes before the bell rang, I pulled her aside and told her something I had just thought about.

"Eon, I think I know what we need to do."

Eon looked puzzled.

"What are you talking about?"

I inched closer to her.

"I think I know what to do to save Maia."

"Okay, tell me then."

I sighed. This was totally crazy, but it at least made sense to me.

"We have to go back to where that Chaot took us. With the others, too."

Eon's eyes fell to the ground.

"I guess so. Now that..."

Her voice dropped down to a whisper.

"...we have superpowers, guess we can give it a go."

I chuckled.

"Who knows? Maybe this could really work."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We all met at Blackout's house. When I arrived, it hit me that I didn't have anything to ride on. Believe me, I actually ran there. It sucked, what with her being on the other side of the subdivision.

After I had asked Blackout if I could use one of hers, she blushed.

"You may borrow a bike..." I could've sworn I heard a mischievous undertone as she said this.

I stared at her.

"Um, okay then. Let's get it," I said.

Blackout laughed her signature droning laugh.

"Heehee... okay."

We were slowly lead to the garage. Something made me feel like a death row inmate about to be executed...

She opened the door and turned the lights on.

She pointed at a bike.

"You may have that," she told me.

I heard laughter ripple within our group.

"Good luck with that, Forestra," Spotlight snickered.

I smiled for a while before I examined the bike further.

My smile completely disappeared because of its appearance.

Oh, great, really?

I hate you so much, Blackout. If I wasn't nice, I would've punched you in the face right now.

I sighed in exasperation, with a facepalm accompanying it.

It was pink. A bit too much for my comfort. I wouldn't grace it with any other description.

I cringed and acid already clawed at my throat.

"It's your size!" Arcmagos said, laughter in his voice.

I "BERNed" like fire.

No pun intended...

"Do you have any others, Blackout?"

"Nope. Just this. The others brought their own."

I stared down, letting the redness envelop me.

"Ugh, fine..." I glumly uttered.

I grabbed a helmet - which was thankfully green - and strapped it on.

"Enjoying yourself there, dear friend?" Blackout casually asked while strapping her own helmet on.

"Shut. Up," I retorted, throwing myself on the surprisingly well-cushioned seat.

If only the bike wasn't pink, I would be alright with riding in public.

Blackout walked to the garage door and pushed it up, with surprising strength for someone with her... stamina.

I squinted as we pedaled outside.

This was going to be long...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We went this way, right?" Pyroclast asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," I answered.

Out of the city we zoomed and into a grassy field. A small building was visible in the distance.

"Hey, why don't we use our abilities to fly over to the building?" I asked after what felt like hours of pedaling.

"Well," Spotlight said, "we don't really know how to control our powers. At least Arcmagos and I don't. Special mention goes to Blackout. Almost killed me twice."

"Neither do we," Riverflow, Pyroclast, Rocksworth, and Cyclone added.

"What about you, dearie?" Blackout asked me.

"I don't. I wish I did."

Eon cut in.

"Besides, people would see us and experiment on us. Probably kill us. We don't want that to happen if we want to save Maia."

"Right," I said.

I noticed that it was quite a few hundred meters away.

"Guys, I have an idea," Rocksworth chirped.

"What if we talked about dreams?"

Oh, no.

"Noooo..." I protested.

That one dream Blackout had about my murder. It still terrified me.

"Fine... if that still triggers you..." Rocksworth weakly agreed.

The rest of the ride was silent until we arrived in the parking lot of the building. I parked and put my kickstand down. I kept my helmet on and looked up at the building. In daylight, the features were a bit clearer.

Paint was ripped all over the place. Otherwise, the building was just cement. A hint of crimson was on the pavement in front of the entrance. It reminded me of that... woman, but it also reminded me of blood--

"Umm..." Blackout dragged.

"Why?" Eon asked.

She snapped back into reality.

"I was just looking at the name of this place. Seems a bit too fitting."

I looked up at the letters across the building. The letters were a bit faded, but what it said was crystal clear.

Arena of the Enigmatic Kingdom.