Elemental Heroes: The Battle for Acruxia

Chapter 1 - Jace

Chapter 1 - Jace

“Jace… Jace! Wake up!” 

“Noah… it's too early. Let me sleep in…” I muttered, ignoring her weight on top of me. 

“I guess I'll just have to give these M&M pancakes to Carnie then.” Noah smirked. 

I launched myself out of bed, ran down stairs and scanned my eyes in the kitchen. 

“Where are the pancakes!!!” I ranted. 

“There are no pancakes. I'll make for you now that now, I just needed you up with the rest of us.” Noah explained. 

I groaned. “Fine…. What's the emergency then?” 

Celina eeped. “The Superlatives are up. Some of them are still going on since their still tied but the rest are up.”

“Best Dressed, Class Clown and Mr. Diverse are still tied but the rest have been announced.” Airlene explained. “This year's nominees are promising.”

“So who won what?” Evans bluntly asked. 

“Well,” Celina began. “Airlene won both Ms. Dedicated and Smart Cookie, Carnie won Mr. Artsy, Zoey is Ms. Artsy, Jade Stripe has unfortunately won Ms. Drama Queen, Ashlee is Ms. Diverse and Best with Magic, and you Jace, you're Mr. Talent, Best With A Weapon, Mr. Drama King, and both you and Noah won Best Couple.” 

“Who won Heart of Gold?” Carnie asked. 

Celina bit her lip. “It took a lot of petitions, but Ran won Heart of Gold. We convinced Carly Jane to let him be one of the nominees.”

“I'd kill just to see his plucky face at that door right now.” Noah muttered. 

Suddenly we hear a knock on the door. 

“It must be the trophies we won.” Celina cheered. She went up to open the door. When she opened the door, her face turned white. For a brief second before the door slammed shut, we heard a small hi. 

“Celi, who was that at the door?” Nikki asked. 

Suddenly Celina was in shock, she kept ranting on in Japanese until she wasn't able to to breathe. 

Airlene shook her. “What did you see?” 

“I saw-” Celina said before fainting. 

“You made Celina faint.” Evans said bluntly. 

 Noah got up. “What the hell could possibly be at the door?” 

She opened the door then slammed it shut. 

“Jace… Nikki… you two might want to take this one. Carnie, go wake up Iain and Syren. It can't wait.” Noah muttered. 

Jesus, what could have both Celina and Noah spooked. Nikki opened the door and her eyes widened. My mouth was agape with shock. 

“Hi Miss Nikki, Hi Mister Jace!” Ran smiled. “Why did Miss Noah and Ms. Celi slam the door?”

I whispered in Nikki's ear. “You said for sure Ran was dead! You said you and Iain saw him killed by the coven.” 

“He was, you saw the dead body.” Nikki explained. 

“Is something wrong? I thought you be happy to see me again, now that I'm alive.” Ran asked. 

“No, No, we're just… shocked. We missed you a lot after…. The coven beat you to death.” Nikki responded. 

We got Ran inside and tied his legs and feet to a chair with belts and wires, leaving his hands free while he ate chocolate cake. 

“Miss Nikki…. Why am I tied again?” 

“Umm… Good question Ran… Jace! Why did we tie him again?”

Of course they leave me to explain. “We're gonna play a game called Interrogation. We're just gonna ask you a few questions ok? Then we'll untie you.”

“Oh, ok!” Ran smiled, eating happily. Thank god for his innocence. 

We asked him simple questions, like what he remembered, what was up with his flower and how'd he get here. 

Basically he remembered what happened before and during his death, that he woke up in the grave Aenar left for him, with a flower on his grave and a note to take care it for as long possible. 

“Yup, it's an Asphodelian flower. Someone planted it at his grave, and it's properties can be used to temporarily bring back the dead.” Celina explained. 

“You mean that when this flower dies, so does Ran?” I asked. 

His death was brutal on all of us. I don't think we could handle another death. We untied him and gave him more chocolate cake, giving him pet names. 

A few seconds later, Iain kicked down the front door. 

“Oh come on! That's my running gag! Go find your own!” I ranted.

Airlene tsked. “I just put the down payment on that door.”

“Guys, your not gonna believe what is going-” Iain paused. 

He suddenly flicked Ran. 

“Ow!” Ran whined. 

“Ok…. Not a mirage. Anyway, you guys need to step outside. It's important.” Iain explained. 

“Hold up, Ran comes back from the dead and that's all you're worried about?” Noah tilted her head. 

“Well it's not like this is the first time someone has come back from the dead. At least we don't have to go into literal hell to get him back.” Iain admitted. 

We agreed on that and stepped outside. The dome barrier surrounding the city was glitching and on top of that, it was snowing in the middle of August.