Chapter 45-Khione, Flint, and Mary’s Sidequest

A few hours ago…

Flint pants as he stares down his fallen foe, Rocket.

But then, Flint hears a mechanical hum come from behind him, signaling that the metal door has lowered back into the floor.

"Great, the door!"

Flint's eyes then widen as he turns around to face where the door once stood, seeing dozens of guards standing there, just as before.

"Crap…"

"GET 'EM!"  One of the guards roars, and the rest of them charge.

"I'm too weak to use another spell…"

But then, a light bulb goes off above Flint's head as he turns around to face his sand golem, which is still standing tall.

A devious smirk spreads across Flint's lips.

"Time to try out my new toy!"

Still grinning, Flint turns around to face the guards.

"Sand Charge, Level Five: Sandcastle!"  Flint shouts as he swipes a hand towards the guards, and then, Flint's sand golem slams a mighty fost down, crushing some of the guards, who howl in pain.

As for the rest of the guards, they scream as they are sent flying backwards due to the shockwaves of wind and sand echosign from the sand golden's attack, slamming into the walls behind them.

In a single instance, Flint has won.

"Alright!"  Flint exclaims as his sandcastle lowers back into a puddle of sand on the floor, "Too easy!"

Flint then faces the direction which he originally came from.

"Time to go find the others!"

Flint continues running through the underground stronghold of Gambino, until he stumbles upon a mechanical door swarming with guards, just like the one that Flint has emerged from.

"Khione must be in there!"  Flint exclaims as he resumes his Charge Stance, "I barely have any strength left…" Flint pants.

"Sand Charge, Level Two: Sand Spear!"  Flint shouts as he launches a flurry of kicks towards the guards, firing off a spear of sand with each kick, which pierces the guards, causing them to howl in pain as they fall to the ground, each in a pool of their own blood.

Flint continues battling it out with the rest of the guards, until they've all been defeated.

Meanwhile…

Khione pants as she stares at the defeated Marsh.

But then, Khione hears a mechanical hum come from behind her, signaling that the metal door has lowered back into the floor.

"Crap, the guards!"  Khione cries as she spins around to face the door, but rather than seeing the guards standing there, she sees them all writhing on the ground in pain, all but one.

Khione flinches and brings her fist up.

But then…the guard lets out a weak groan as they limply flop to the ground, revealing Flint standing behind them.

Khione's face brightens.

"Master Flint!"  Khione excitedly exclaims as she lowers her fist.

"Hey there, daughter."

"Where's Mary?"

"Probably still in the path she took when we split up.  Just like you, I was separated from the guards by a metal wall, so I'm assuming Mary was as well."

"Quick, let's go find her!  I just hope she's okay…"

"Don't worry, she will be," Flint replies as he peers down at Khoone with a warm smile, "If we both won our fights…then I have no doubt Mary did as well."

Khione peers up at Flint with a beaming smile.  "Right!"  She replies, and so, Flint and Khione take off down the path where Flint came from.

Upon reaching the fork in the roars where the trio split up, Flint and Khione head down the path Mary took, seeing -just like with Khione- an army of guards.

"Let's take them out, Khione!"

"Right, Master!"  Khione replies, and the two move into their Charge Stances.

"Sand Charge, Level Two-!"  Flint begins to shout, but before he can cast his spell, Flint stumbles backwards in a daze.

"Master, what's wrong?!"  Khione cries as she turns and peers over her shoulder to face Flint.

"Nothing, I'm just tired…" Flint grunts as he rubs his head, "Sorry…but I'll have to ask YOU to take these guards out all alone, Khione."

Khione smirks as she turns around to face the guards again.

"No problem, Master!"

"Ice Charge, Level One: Permafrost!"  Khione shouts as she swipes both hands outwards, freezing a group of guards where they stand.

Khione then continues to battle it out against the guards, and once all of them have been defeated, the mechanical door lowers into the ground again, revealing Mary kneeled down on the floor in front of her bloody opponent.

"Khione, Master Grandpa!"  Mary exclaims as she spins around to face her two allies.

"Mary!"  Khone and Flint cry as Mary pops up to her feet.

"Mary, are you alright?!"  Khione frantically asks as she rushes over to Mary and looks the girl up and down.

"Yup!"  Mary answers as she peers up at Khione with a beaming smile, "I'm more than alright!"

Flint then peers behind Mary, where he sees a bloody man lying on the floor.

"You…fought…?"

"Yup!"

"Was he an E-Charger?"

"Yup!"

"And you won?!"

"Er…yes."

With wide eyes, Khione and Flint peer over at one another.

"MARY, WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!"  Khione and Flint then cry as they turn to face Mary again, before leaping forwards and wrapping the small girl in their arms.

  "Th-thank you…" Mary stammers as she awkwardly places her arms around Khione and Flint as well, "ACK!  You're crushing me…"

"Sorry!"  Khione and Flint apologize as they let go of Mary and back up a step.

"Sooo…were you guy's opponents also some funky looking assassins from a group called the Assassin Trio?"  Khione then asks.

"Yeah," Flint answers, "Gambino must have hired them for protection."

"Same here," Mary answers.

"My opponent was a Mud Charger, Marsh.  She was…strange…"

"Mine was an Air Charger, Rocket.  If I wasn't forced to learn to hold my breath for a really long time thanks to my training with Master Doku…I would have suffocated to death."

"And if Tungsten didn't teach me how to use my Blood Charge to heal, I would have lost my hearing!  I fought a Sound Charger, Echo, who tried to use his loud noise to shatter my eardrums.  He said he was Zippy's Cousin."

"Zippy's cousin, huh…?  I didn't know he had one."

"Marsh told me that she chose me as her target because…I'm CUTE.  She could turn into her element just like you, Master Flint."

"Don't flatter yourself," Flint snickers, earning him a piercing gaze from Khione.

"Sorry," Flint says as he quickly looks away, "SOMEONE had to say it…"

"Marsh  could turn into mud?"  Mary asks.

"Then Marsh must have been POWERFUL.  I'm proud of you, Khione.  Only the strongest of E-Chargers can turn into their element."

"Thanks!"

Mary looks away in frowns.

Flint thenr reaches down and rubs the top of Mary's head, causing the girl to flinch.

"And I'm proud of you, too, Mary!"  Flint continues, "All of my pupils have come a long way!"

Mary peers up at Flint with a beaming smile.

"Yeah!"

"Now then, shall we go look for Noah?"  Flint asks.

"Yeah, let's head back to where our group originally split up," Khione answers, and the three begin to retrace their steps.

Upon reaching the first fork in the roar, the trio head down the right seated path that Noah and Anemoi had taken, until they find themselves standing in front of a room with the door wide open, and gold coins are spilling out everywhere.

The three peer into the room, and their faces light up in front of the glowing gold coins filling the entire room.

"Wow…" the three marvel

"How beautiful…"

"Sh-should we…take it…?"

Flint shrugs.  "I don't see why not.  Gambino makes his money through blackmail, as Anemoi said.  All we're doing is taking from the rich and giving to the poor.  WE'RE the poor, though."

Mary shakes her head.  "No, that's not right!"  She exclaims, "We should find who this money belongs to and return it to its rightful owners."

"We have no way of figuring that out, Mary," Kihone sighs.

"Right…" Mary sadly replies.

"Either way, we should take this money," Flint says as he reaches down and picks up an empty sack, "We'll need some during our stay in the Land of Wind.  And Anemoi clearly needs it.  Maybe if we give her some of Gambino's money…she'll join the team."

"Right," Khione replies as she reaches down and picks up her own stack.

And so, Khione and Flint begin stuffing their sacks with gold coins, and with a sigh, Mary picks up a sack and draws them.

Khione, Flint, and Mary fill as many sacks of gold as they can carry.  Flint has four, Khione has two, and Mary…she struggles to carry one.

"There, that's enough," Flint exhales as he slings a sack of gold over his shoulder.

"R-RIGHT…" Mary grunts as her face turns beet-red from trying to hoist up a sack of gold.

"Don't push yourself, Mary," Flint chuckles as he snatches up Mary's sack and signs it over his shoulder.

"Right..." Mary replies with a bashful smile.

Khione, Flint, and Mary then hear some shouts come from below them, and the tro turn to where they heard the noise, noticing a large hole in the ground next to them.

"What's…this…?"  Khione asks as she makes her way over to the edge of the hole and peers down,where she sees a bloody Noah and Anemoi standing there.

Khione's eyes widen.

"Look, there's Noah!"  Khione exclaims as she drops her bag of gold and points down the hole.

Flint and Mary peer over the edge of the hole as well, and when they see Noah, their eyes widen.

"Quick, let's go save Noah!"  Mary cries.

"Right!"