Chapter 97-Noah

"Ohhh…" I groan as my eyes flutter open.

I sit up and look around, finding myself lying down in my sleeping bag in a familiar looking tent.

What…happened…?

Slowly, I throw off my covers and stand up, but my weight instantly buckles beneath me and I drop down to one knee. A wave of pain coursed throughout my entire body, rendering my unable to stand.

My body is sore all over and my head is spinning. My tight muscles make it feel as if I hadn't moved in a long time.

"Ow…" I groan.

Carefully, I clutch my aching sides as I limp out of the tent.

Upon exiting the tent, the bright light of the sun causes me to blink, then flinch, and I raise a hand, using it to shield my eyes from the sun.

Once my eyes adjust to the outdoor light, I find five pairs of eyes all staring at me.

Everyone pauses what they're doing, and stares at me.

"Noah…?" Khione asks.

"Um…yeah…?" I ask.

"NOAH!"

With a joyful scream, Khione rushes towards me then leaps into the air and wraps her arms around me in a right hug, causing me to crash down to the ground.

"OW!" I yelp as I fall to my back, with Khione lying on top of my chest.

Khione sits up and blushes.

"Oh…sorry!" Khione yelps as she scrambles off of me.

"Noah's still wounded, Khione," Mary sighs, "Treat him carefully."

"You sound like the bigger sister here," Gaia smirks.

Mary looks away and pouts.

"What…happened…?" I ask as I sit up and rub my head.

"After Prometheus ran away, you started rampaging about using your Water Charge!" Khione exclaims as she flexes an arm and pats her biceps, "Until I give you a good clock in the head!"

"Oh, that's right, I was fighting Prometheus after-"

I pause.

"Smokey…died…"

Khione frowns.

"You don't…remember anything…?" She asks.

"No, all I remember is fighting Prometheus, and then…everything went blank," I sadly answer as I shake my head, "I vaguely remember you guys coming to help me, and Prometheus saying something about the flood, but…everything else is blank…"

Khione's eyes widen.

"You…REALLY don't remember anything…do you…?"

"No…" I answer as I peer up at Khione, "Remember what?"

Khione peers over her shoulder at the rest of my friends, and everyone nervously looks around to one another, no one wanting to say anything.

"Um…guys…?" I ask.

Khione sighs as she turns back to face me

"Nothing," Khione answers with a tender smile as she holds a hand out to me, "There's nothing to remember."

And so, I take Khione's hand, and she hoists me to my feet.

"So what happened to Prometheus?" I ask.

"Oh…he ran away!" Khione answers, "After you gave him a good walloping."

My eyes widen.

"I…defeated Prometheus…?" I ask.

"Err…sort of," Khione answers.

"Sort of?" I ask.

Khione sighs. "Nevermind…"

"I actually remembered losing to Prometheus…" I say as I lift my forearms and peer down at them, seeing them COVERED in burn scars, especially my right wrist, which has a wicked red scar that makes it looks as if it was burnt off right above the elbow.

"That's right, didn't I almost burn to death?!" I exclaim.

"Yeah…about that…" Old-Man F winces as he strolls over to me then holds a hand up, and summons a small pillar of sand, which morphs into a shard of glass.

"Glass?" I ask.

"I awakened," Old-Man F answers.

"Awakened?" I ask.

"Just look in the mirror," Old-Man F sighs, "We'll explain everything later."

I look into the shard of glass that Old-Man F contracted, and once I do, my eyes widen.

I poke and prod at my face, which is COVERED in burn scars.

"SHEESH…" I wince.

"Awakening occurs when an E-Charger gains such mastery over their element that they can control the Compound Elements of their Element in order to create a new element," Old-Man F explains, "In my case…I can turn my sand into glass."

"Yeah, WELL I learned that I have TWO elements!" Khione proudly smirks as she places one hand on her hip and holds her other hand up, and a weird, jagged purple crystal forms in Khione's hand, "-Star Charge!"

"Star Charge?" I ask.

"I can use it to teleport!" Khione smirks.

"Is that…even possible…?" I ask.

"It is," Gaia answers as he wanders over to us, "I…TIED with the Second Sun of the Children of Fire. He could use two elements, Plasma and Steel. Apparently…there is an INCREDIBLY rare chance that E-Chargers of two E-Charger parents are born with BOTH of their parents elements, rather than a fusion of the two. Sometimes…the second element is unlocked later in life, like in Khione's case."

"How about you two?" I ask as I peer over at Ana and Mary with a gentle smile, "Any fun new abilities?"

"Nah," Ana answers as she walks over to me, "I just defeated the Third Sun."

Mary looks away in shame.

"Is…something wrong, Mary…?"

Mary is silent.

"Mary…?" I ask.

"I…met my sister…" Mary answers, causing my eyes to widen.

"Mary, that's gre-!" I begin to say, but Khione holds up a hand, shushing me up.

"She…tried to kill me…" Mary sadly continues, causing me to frown.

"Why would she do such a thing…?" I ask.

Mary shakes her head. "I don't know…" she answers.

"So what's up with that left eye of yours?" Old-Man F asks, directing everyone's attention back towards me.

"Ahh…well during my battle against the First Sun, Smokey, I awakened my Devil Eye," I explain as I pat my left eye, "Using it…I can negate the ability of other Devil Eyes."

"The First Sun…is that the body we saw…?" Khione asks.

"Yeah…" I sadly answer as I look away, "Smokey…didn't WANT to be evil…he was about to join our team and tell me about Prometheus, but then…Prometheus killed him…"

With a confident scowl, I turn back to face my friends.

"Nothing has changed, guys," I say, "We WILL prevent the Elemental Apocalypse, but now…we have a second goal: TO DEFEAT PROMETHEUS!"

My friends smirk as they look around at one another.

"RIGHT!"