Nephew of the Forgotten One, Chapter 19

Nephew of the Forgotten One, Chapter 19 Nephew of the Forgotten One, Chapter 19

Tony
"Ness!" Ņrutas cried. "We found you!"
I ran over and untied him. He stood up and stretched, then reached behind him and picked up a sharp piece of crystal.
"Crystal-shard!" Ņrutas exclaimed, jumping up and down. "BOING! ZOOM! That's a Crystal-shard!"
"It is?" I asked. "It doesn't look like the others' Crystal-shards."
"Maybe the shape is related to the energy. For example, the fire Crystal-shard would resemble a flame, the water Crystal-shard a raindrop, and so forth."
"Perhaps," I said. "But at any rate, we should go back to Fourside. I wouldn't like it if the three of us had to do everything alone; and I'm sure Paula, Tracy, BJ and Picky are of a similar accord."
"Paula?" Ness asked, shaking me. "She escaped from Giogas?"
"I wouldn't say escaped, Ness," I murmured. "More or less, she was thrown away," I said, hinting subtly.
Ness' eyes narrowed. "Let's go," he hissed.
Ņrutas and I stood, waiting. "No teleport?" Ņrutas wondered.
"You can only teleport in the open," Ness replied. "This isn't open." He surveyed our surroundings. "Ah, Brick Road's vehicle collection. I think we can jump down from somewhere along this level. But be careful. As he once said, 'Once a dungeon is built, monsters start moving in.' Have you encountered any enemies?"
"Should we have?" We started walking.
"Not necessarily," Ness noted. "It's just that this dungeon was full of monsters when I came in a few years, and so it's unsettling for no monsters to be here."
"Oh. We encountered a few records and guitars; nothing beyond that, though."
Ness jumped down. I picked up Ņrutas and leapt down beside him. We walked out of Dungeon Man.
"That's five down, with a sixth chaser. And there's three to go," a voice said.
We whirled around. Sitting atop Dungeon Man, looking down at us, leaning on a staff, was the robed kid.
"You!" Ņrutas yelled. "You're evil!"
The robed kid laughed. "I wouldn't say that." He smiled, most of his face covered by the hood of his robe; I could only tell he was smiling because I could somehow see the glint of his teeth. "Then again, maybe I would."
"What are you doing here?" Ness demanded.
"Temper, Ness," Robe said, his face fading into the shadows again. He stood up, lifting his staff up. It flashed in the sun, and I caught a glimpse of quartz in the head of the staff. "You'll learn, in time. Can you empathise with your girl? Can you feel her coldness?"
"What coldness?" Ņrutas asked. "Paula's not cold. Zoom."
"You'll learn of that too, Saturn." He leapt down. "Don't think I forgot you, Armuffin. Are you worried about your friends? Of course you are. Your personality can't allow otherwise: you have to worry, you have to hope they're all right."
"PSI Rockin' Alpha!" Ness cried.
"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that, Ness," Robe said. He held his staff towards us.
...the quartz glowed...
...and Ness' PSI was absorbed. The quartz faded.
"What in the world?" Ness managed.
"PSI Fire Alpha!" Ņrutas exclaimed.
"Psychokinetic Reflection," Robe murmured. The quartz glowed again, and Ness' PSI shot out from it!
"Booooooooing....." Ņrutas collapsed.
"Ņrutas!" Ness and I exclaimed together.
Robe laughed. "If you can't beat me, how can you expect to beat Giogas? I'll see you later, if at all."
He twisted his staff around a few times, and disappeared.
"Ness!" I pleaded. "Can't you do something?"
"I'll try." Ness picked Ņrutas up. "I can hear him breathing; I can feel his pulse. I just hope I'm in time. PSI Lifeup Gamma!"
From Ness' fingers shot a green light, enveloping Ņrutas. Ņrutas' eyes fluttered open.
"We should get back," Ness observed. "What that robed kid was talking about scares me. PSI Teleport Beta!" We spun around in a circle and warped through non-space.

"This isn't Fourside," I said. "This is Summers."
I heard a sound behind me, like someone tripping. I turned around. The kid there seemed a bit overweight, and a little hurt.
"What's wrong?" I asked, my characteristic kindness and concern, what Robe had implied was a weakness, showing through. The kid stood up
"Nothing," he said, cringing. He seemed to be favouring a leg. "Except for that creepy robed kid."
"What creepy robed kid?" I pressed, my curiosity piqued. The kid struggled over to me.
"Can you help me to the hospital?" he asked, his eyes pleading. "I'll tell you there."
"I guess," I said. I gripped him around the upper back and helped him hobble to the hospital, where he was checked in. I joined him in his hospital room.
"OK," the kid murmured, "I'll tell you. You can call me CB."
"Please begin, CB," I said, closing the door. I sat down in a chair near his bed.
"I was in Toto, buying a sandwich and some fruit juice," CB explained. "I went over to the docks and ate them. Then when I got up and headed back to Summers, I saw some robed kid coming out of one of the houses. That house was supposed to be empty. The old owners moved out a few days ago, and the for sale sign just went up, so it should be empty. But it wasn't.
"Anyway, he didn't see me. He was looking at the captain who runs the ship to Scaraba, and said, 'I feel strong energies emanating from his aura.' Then he turned around and saw me. I started to run, but then he fired something out of a staff he was carrying. It got me in this leg, and I managed to make it a little bit ahead when you suddenly appeared out of nowhere. That's all."
"Thank you, CB," I said. The door opened, and the resident doctor appeared.
"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are ending in five minutes. Do you have anything much left to talk about? If not, then it would be advisable that you leave."
"No, we're done," I acknowledged. I stood up and left.

Picky
I shivered. We were freezing.
"PSI Fire Omega!" Paula cried. Fire burst from her fingers, heading towards the ends of our icy prison. ...and did nothing. "It's not working?"
I turned around, and saw Dusty giving Julia a sweater.
"Thank you, Dusty," she replied. Dusty blushed.
BJ grumbled, and punched his Power-crystal. Nothing happened.
"Why isn't it working?" he wondered.
Dusty put on rubber gloves. "Ripfire!" he exclaimed, throwing a tarot card in the air. Fire burst from the card, like the PSI attack burst from Paula's fingers, and arced towards the inner lining of our prison.
...and it, like the PSI once more, didn't work.
Dusty picked up the card.
"It's not burning?" he wondered. "And it hasn't been ruined? Strange... Ripfire!"
Fire burst from the card again, and did nothing again.
Tracy was laying on the ground, the frost growing on the grass around her, her breath clearly visible.
"What's wrong, Tracy?" I asked, hunkering down beside her.
She grasped her Crystal-shard. "I'm scared. I have the Fire Crystal-shard. What if even that can't do it? We'll die..."
"You can't just give up, Tracy," I pleaded.
"Who says I can't? I don't feel like trying anymore..."
"That's the cold speaking. I believe in you, Tracy, you have to know that. Isn't one person believing you enough?"
"N...no... pancakes are delicious..."
"She's delirious," Paula mused. "She's cold, she's going into shock. We need to keep her warm."
"Here. She can have this sweater," Julia said, handing over the sweater. "I'm fine now." But the slightest of shivers told me she wasn't.
"Tracy, if you give up, you're sacrificing everyone to Giogas," Dusty said, trying to convince her. "If you give up, Giogas has carte blanche to do whatever he wants to our world. And even without three of the Crystal-shards, I bet he'll still be able to execute whatever plans he wants."
"Dusty's right," BJ added. "I believe in you."
"As do I," Paula announced. "Tracy, you're not alone. The only way you can be alone is if you are alone. You only think you're alone. We believe in you; believe in yourself."
"You're right ... left ... there are people who depend on me. Fa so la ti do." The Crystal-shard of fire began to agitate. Tracy dropped it.
I picked it up. BJ and Dusty helped her up.
"PSI Fire Alpha," Paula whispered. Her fingers burst with fire a few times. "I hope this works."
I put the Crystal-shard in Tracy's hand and gripped the hand.
"We believe in you. If you believe in yourself, and in us, you can get us out of this, Tracy."
Julia slipped the sweater around Tracy's hands. "Good luck," she said.
"Fire... Crystal-shard..." Tracy managed. The Crystal-shard agitated again, and I gripped her hand harder to keep the shard there. It began to glow red.
"Look!" Julia exclaimed. "The frost is melting!"
I looked down, keeping my grip on Tracy's hand. The frost was melting. It seemed to be melting in a wave from Tracy. I saw the frost melt into water, and soak into the ground.
I looked up, wondering if, perhaps, the Crystal-shard would protect us from being crushed under the water. The top of the dome, where we were, seemed to be becoming more translucent by the minute.
"Picky?" Tracy asked.
"Yes?" I answered.
"You can let go now," she said. "I'm not cold anymore. And I believe in myself, and in you, and in you believing in me." I let go. She lifted the Crystal-shard up. "We were brought together for a reason," Tracy continued. "That reason was so our world would have a chance of survival. If we hadn't already known each other we wouldn't be where we are now; in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Giogas would have won by now if we weren't together."
The Crystal-shard glowed brighter and brighter. BJ and I pulled out our Crystal-shards. They were glowing too. But instead of blowing red, they were glowing black and blue. We held ours up too.
Beams shot out from the Crystal-shards and pierced the dome. I saw the red, black and blue spreading across the outside of the dome.
"Now!" I cried. "I think it's becoming weaker!" My arm, the one holding the Crystal-shard felt paralysed. I guessed BJ and Tracy felt the same.
"Paula! Dusty!" BJ exclaimed. "Use your fire attacks!"
"PSI Fire Omega!"
"Ripfire!" The two fires shot out across the dome, breaking a large hole in it.
"Let's go!" Paula said. I felt my arm loosen.
"I agree," I murmured. "The dome may collapse at any time." We ran out. As soon as we all emerged from the dome, I saw the coating on the dome disappear. And I saw the dome itself crack apart, falling to Earth.