As we walked in the forest, we found a beautiful stream and followed it along the side. Questions came pouring in from a hyperactive young girl, who at that moment was like a goat because she was jumping left and right on rocks. Crazy goat! Where did she find so much energy?
"Hey, Promi... Don't you feel something strange? Something... new?"
I looked at her for a moment, considering whether I should answer honestly.
"Hmm... I don't know. Maybe it needs time."
Galaxia scratched her chin. "Or maybe he doesn't want to admit it?"
I smiled faintly, but didn't answer. I shouldn't make it so easy for them. What should I tell them? That the power had already awakened? But it's so complicated that even I am trying to figure it out. I'll prefer to hide it.
"Look, maybe. Time will tell."
Then Galaxia looked at Hitomi, noticing how far she was from Prometheus, and simply said: "Okay. You know best."
And she plunged his left hand into his embrace. Prometheus was startled, almost blushing. Hitomi, as soon as she saw it, quickly reached their side and launched Galaxia away from him.
Prometheus froze. Hitomi, with a visibly irritated yet annoyed look, shouted: "Galaxia! Can't you see you're bothering him? Hey, you say it, Promi! Is she bothering you? Is she not bothering you?"
Prometheus laughed awkwardly.
Galaxia cracked a smile full of satisfaction, as if she had achieved her goal. "Ah, my sweet Hitomi, I didn't know you were so possessive. Oh my, jealousy!"
The birds sang from above, while the stream flowed incessantly, oblivious to the danger approaching. The leaves of the trees whispered a secret that no one could understand.
Then Prometheus turned his gaze towards the distance, toward where the stream was coming from, and simply pointed, saying: "Shhh, something is close, but where?"
He turned around and around, looking carefully. Then Hitomi ran and climbed onto a rock to get a better view.
She stretched her left hand out toward us, saying: "Stay still! What's roaming in the forest? Galaxia, what is in these woods?"
Galaxia's eyes suddenly began to shine. "Bears and wolves, from level 1 up to 10. We are three. Together we can defend ourselves. We are the two of us, Hitomi, sixth level, and Prometheus fifth. We got this! Hitomi, quickly, analyze the area in depth!"
For some reason, I felt neither fear nor worry, even though we were in a forest, with a rocky hill behind us. The worst that could happen is we wouldn't survive. Haha! Something wasn't right.
The air changed. The leaves on the trees barely rustled, as if trying to warn of something.
"Guys..." Galaxia whispered. "Something is watching us."
The air smelled different. A sudden feeling of heaviness made me feel strange. The leaves seemed to stop moving, and the wind abruptly cut off.
Suddenly, the first heavy growl was heard.
A huge black bear, level 20. Eyes red, full of rage. A monster of the forest, which had just targeted us.
"What-what-what do we do! Say quickly!"
All I said was: "We can just leave the way we came, which means running." I simply pointed to the other side.
Galaxia took a fighting stance, and Hitomi drew her weapon.
"Hitomi, right!" Galaxia shouted, and Hitomi took a quick step back to avoid the bear's first strike.
It was not enough.
The bear rose onto its hind legs and with a sudden movement knocked both girls down, leaving them unconscious.
And now... it was looking at me. When I saw the bear looking at me, the only thing I thought was: Oh, problem!
It made its move to strike me, and I simply took two steps back. The bear chose to move away before hitting me.
But then... I heard the voice:
"Do it – do it – do it now. Eliminate it."
The flame inside me awakened, as if something had opened a secret box.
A moment of hesitation. If I did this... what would it mean for me? I remembered the flame that was born within me. I quickly raised my right hand towards it and, in a fraction of a second, I grasped it entirely as fire—just like in my house. The bear was terrified, stood on its hind legs, but was standing right over the stream.
It tried to back away. It seemed to be trying to increase its defensive power, but in vain!
The voice inside me was clear: "Strike." But what would happen if I did? Would I remain human or become the very beast I was trying to eliminate?
All I said was: "I'm sorry, we need to finish this and I need to find a good excuse."
When it saw the size of the fireball changing to magma, it tried to run. The bear, despite the flames engulfing its body, did not retreat. Its red eyes shone brighter, and with a sudden movement, it struck the ground with all its might, sending shockwaves toward us.
I was at a good enough distance from Hitomi and Galaxia so as not to harm them. The size of the ball I created was three times bigger than me, but I was already enjoying it.
When I launched the fireball, it was strong enough to disintegrate the bear.
But it didn't stop there.
The fire spread, vaporizing the stream in its path. The rocky hill began to crack. The flames licked its summit, leaving a huge, steaming fissure. If it had lasted a little longer... the whole hill could have melted.
The flames seemed to have a life of their own, embracing everything in their path. The trees and the soil boiled.
"Whoa... I thought I would just burn it!" I thought. And now only one-third () of the hill remained, because the further it moved away from me, the larger it grew.
The fissure in the hill was not just a sign of destruction. It was the ash that remained where a beast once stood. It was a part of myself that I didn't yet understand. This power... was it mine? Or was something else controlling me?
"Oops, what the hell did I do? Heh heh heh."
I might have been laughing outwardly, playing it cool in front of the girls and the guards... but inside? I knew something was wrong.
I was quite confused. I went to the girls, healed them, and sat next to them. The village guards rushed over due to the explosion to see what was happening, but they found me performing my healing on the girls and didn't pay much attention, except for the sergeant who gave me a skeptical look.
I told her that a man dressed in black appeared and did this. They simply took us to the clinic for a check-up and a statement.
The journey back to the village was filled with silences. My breath was heavy, not from fatigue, but from the weight of my actions. The fire had left its mark, and so had the beast that was now ash.
When we finally arrived at the clinic, my mother, who was in the town, rushed over, frantic.
"Aether!"
Before I could react, she wrapped me in a tight hug, so strong that for a moment I thought she would suffocate me. She grabbed me by the shoulders, as if trying to squeeze an answer out of me.
"They told me that an entire hill... collapsed! That the ground was steaming! What happened? Who was it?"
Her voice cracked, but her eyes held a determined look. "Prometheus, what are you hiding from me? What have you become?..." Her eyes searched mine, as if trying to find a son she didn't recognize.
"You shouldn't have... you shouldn't have risked it like that and gone out there without asking!" Her voice trembled. She released me for a moment and looked at me scrutinizingly, as if trying to see if I was the same person.
I didn't know if she was talking about the bear, about the destruction... or about something she knew and I hadn't learned yet.
"Don't do that again!"
Once the girls were checked and confirmed to be in good health, I gave my statement. Fortunately, the sergeant's superior was a bit naive, and I was able to convince him by telling him my story about the "man in black."
My mother returned to her job until the evening, when she would come to pick me up, and I went to see the girls.
I went to Galaxia. She was sleeping soundly, and they had brought her a teddy bear.
I went to Hitomi. I just watched her sleep. I sat in the chair next to her bed, looking at her. At the same time, I looked at my hands. Were these the same hands that had created a catastrophe of this magnitude? Was I still human? Or had I become something much darker?
I thought: "If I had made one mistake, it could have cost them their lives..."
I grasped my face from the pressure and slowly whispered: "What's happening to me?… What has become of me?"
I looked at Hitomi as I drowned in my thoughts. At some point, I decided to rest my head on the edge of the bed and close my eyes for a little while.
Time passed and in the evening Hitomi woke up. As she got up and wondered where she was, she saw Prometheus at the edge of the bed. She was about to get flustered, gathering her clothes and thinking that he had done something he shouldn't have. Various thoughts ran through her mind, but when she realized he was simply sleeping, she smiled.
She just smiled. His head was resting on her right hand, and his left hand was at the end of her feet.
She saw the ribbon on his hand and said: "Hmmmm, I don't know how or why we are like this. Well, I'm glad we're okay."
She tried to stroke his hair, but then she saw the black-blue-purple electricity they talked about. It lightly struck her, but at the same time, it was caressing her hand...
Security had been placed outside the rooms to ensure no one entered, because they believed it was an attack by a stranger.
But when my parents came to pick me up to go home, the sergeant said: "Mrs. Loux, should I come for security at your house?" looking at me with a skeptical gaze.
My mother looked at me, saying: "Hey, Prometheus, go to the girls. What do you say? We want to talk to the sergeant."
I just nodded positively and left. I entered Hitomi's room, and she had gotten ready, waiting for her parents to arrive. We decided to go to Galaxia.
But we saw her sleeping. Then Hitomi shook her forcefully.
"Wake up, pig!" she shouted at her.
Galaxia turned and asked: "Why? Am I bothering you by sleeping?"
Hitomi just laughed. "No, why should I care? But we're leaving soon anyway, and your parents would wake you up to get ready. So?"
Galaxia simply stretched, saying: "Mmm, you're not wrong. Prometheus, outside! I need to get ready."
I just laughed and walked out.
When everything was ready, we left for home, so we could rest, because the next day starts dynamically! The academies were waiting for us!
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