Chapter 20: Responsibility

"Whenever," Tiadora still explained of the powers, "you use your elemental powers, you will use up your body energy. The usage of the left hand's strength will reduce your body energy more than the usage of the right hand. That is why whenever you use your powers, use it wisely. For example, if an enemy strikes, and you attack with your powers, you will feel weaker and weaker until up to a point where you can't conjure up anymore spells. However, as a guardian progresses, the weak point time will gradually prolong but it will still weaken you. This goes the same way for Xana and his minions. They use magic. A source that is weaker than the power we have but if we do not become stronger, they will be able to pull you down. Plus, like them, they will also be weakening if they use too much magic. Any questions?"

Jason raised his hand, "That day you mention about extra abilities. What are ours?"

"Right now, your extra abilities are not a concern. It is your element. Master that first and when the time comes, then I'll tell you your extra abilities," Tiadora told as she placed her hand onto the bandage on Cornelia's leg. A soft yellow glow around her hand for a few seconds crept Cornelia out a bit but her suspicion died as the wound on her leg didn't seem to hurt anymore. Immediately after Tiadora removed her hand, Cornelia unwrapped the bandage to see back her skin perfectly normal, like as if she didn't trip over that root. "However," Tiadora mentioned as everyone's awed face turned from Cornelia's leg to Tiadora, "if anyone of you has been encountered with an accident or an injury, please feel free to come to me so that I can heal your wounds. This is my special ability."

"Looks like we have a doctor in the group," Kiara squealed.

"Yeah right. Soon, I'll charge everyone for every injury treated," Tiadora joked but became serious again, "Alright. Let's train but since none of you are able to train by yourself. I'll call you out one by one to train you and familiarise with your element. In the mean time while I train one of you, the rest can sit aside at the end of the bridge. Just in case. Cornelia, would you like to be first?"

"Er... Okay," Cornelia stepped out to a position as everyone sat at the bridge wall to see the spectacular. Tiadora stood quite a distance from Cornelia and smiled, "Don't worry. I'll just tell you what you must do and you are to concentrate and conjure up whatever I tell you to. Is that alright?" With an unwilling nod, Tiadora held up her right hand towards the bright sky and chanted loud enough for everyone to hear, "The one thing on Earth that everyone depends greatly on, change to something that would make the grass and people wither!" True enough, suddenly a thick dark purple mist clouded the bridge. Cornelia couldn't see Tiadora anymore as she tried to figure out what had she done. She took a breath, felt a horrible smoke in her windpipe and coughed.

"Cornelia! I want you to change the purple mist back to its original form," Cornelia heard Tiadora from afar.

"What form?" on every word she had to cough out the smoke.

"Oxygen. Think, Cornelia, which hand must you use? Hurry before everyone runs out of air including yourself," Tiadora's reply sounded even further than before, Cornelia thought. She knew she had to give it a try before she runs out and collapse but would Tiadora really let me just faint here, Cornelia wondered to herself. Another cough was heard from her right. Kiara, David and Jason could feel the smoke in their lungs too. Mokona was patting David on the back as he kneeled down in pain, coughing again. Without a moment to lose, Cornelia brought her right hand into the purple mist, closed her eyes and concentrated deep in her mind, "Oxygen. Oxygen. Oxygen. Give me oxygen." Soon, a fresh breeze skimmed through her nose and when she opened her eyes, the surroundings were clear of the horrible smoke. Leaning against the walls were Kiara, Jason and David who didn't look like they were coughing or injured from the mist.

"Good," Tiadora who was also okay commented on Cornelia performance, "Though you were a bit slow on reaction. Okay. On to level two."

"What?! A level two?" Cornelia panicked.

"Of course. That was only a simple exercise. I need you to ace in combat as well," Tiadora explained again as Cornelia calmed down, "Next, I'm going t o attack you and I want you to dodge it and fire back at me with anything; left or right hand." Tiadora eyed Cornelia, positioned herself and closed her eyes. The energy flow went to full strength. It was time to attack, but which hand should she test on Cornelia. "Ready?" Tiadora positioned herself in a funny manner, thrust her right hand out and shouted, “Evaista!”

The ground around Cornelia shakes with great tension like as if it was an earthquake, and in a split second cracks appeared followed by strong white blinding lights that zapped out of the openings. Sands and debris flew past Cornelia’s face as she tried resisting the forceful air that was trying to blow her away. Before Cornelia could react, she managed to catch a glimpse of a purple beam that pushed her back to the ground. The beam, she realized, had passed through her body, leaving pain in her tummy like something worse than constipation. "Ow," Cornelia managed to say it out, "I didn't know we have to say something when we use our elements."

"Oh that wasn't my element power," Tiadora smiled as she held her hand forward for Cornelia to grab hold, "element power doesn't need chanting cause it comes from your mind. You don't have to breathe a word. But we need to chant if we want to use magic.
"If you had recalled your practice, I had cast a spell to blind and distract you and when that happens I fired a beam from my elements," Tiadora patted on Cornelia's broad shoulders, "We guardians have the advantage. We can use both magic and our elements in combat but Xana and his comrades are only able to use magic. However, don't be too complacent as Xana's small army has already had years of practice with magic. So don't assume that they will fall to their knees that easily.

"Furthermore, I think you're done. We can continue your AIR practice tomorrow," Tiadora continued.

"There's a tomorrow?" Cornelia gasped.

"Your brother said that all of you don't mind practicing for the whole weekend."
Cornelia groaned, "Once I've mastered this, I'll kill him."

Tiadora chuckled as Cornelia joined beside Kiara who had headphones plugged to her ears. Kiara had turned up the volume so loud even Tiadora hear it from her position. 4 Minutes by Madonna and Justin Timberlake. "You're up next, David. Remove Mokona from your head and come here," Tiadora laughed as Mokona still continue to jump repeatedly on David's head. He rose to his feet as Mokona hopped off and landed on Kiara's head. Smiling, David patted softly on its white head, "Why don't you entertain Jason for a change?"

Mokona furiously shake its head right and left, "I don't like Jasons, Davy."

Mokona loves calling him that just like how Jason’d nicknamed him but he was confused of its rejection towards Jason. Something didn’t felt right, David thought as he stepped at the same position as Cornelia was just now. He remembered the times that he unknowingly used his right hand for imagination purposes such as the time he'd phased the magazine to the top of Cornelia's books in the library. Shaniqua, he recalled. David was supposed to meet her at noon today after her cheerleading practice.

Maybe I could ask Kiara about Shaniqua's reaction when I didn't come? He chuckled to himself at the thought of jealously that will surface on Kiara's face if he asked that. Tiadora stood at the very same position as she did a moment ago. It had a weird aura between them which triggered an uneasy feeling for David. Her different-coloured eyes were mesmerising. David noticed it yesterday night of her eyes. He hadn't realised before till he was close to Tiadora last night. "Take it easy. I'm only a beginner," David cooed.

"Dream on. For a 'beginner' who had known how to summon ground giants in the sea for more than at least five minutes, I won't call that beginner. The Earth element is much difficult to control when in water because Earth is suspended when in contact with water but you were able to form those creatures and break the metal cages into bits of pieces,” Tiadora did some more explanation, “A challenge like Cornelia would be a snap for you, David. Now I will attack you and you must retaliate. Alright?"

And with a brief and unsure nod, Tiadora wasted no time. She twisted her body and threw an electric sphere from her left hand. As the bolt got nearer, it grew bigger than its actual size. David thought quickly and soon the sphere had hit at its targeted position. Tiadora was expecting David to have fainted but a wall had suddenly emerged from the ground in front of David and took t

Quickly after the explosion, David ran to his left and powered his left hand. He was thankful that the smoke in the air had not been blown away yet as it covered his tracks of signs of attack. When it was ready, he swung forward his arm and the yellow beam stretched long towards Tiadora. Fortunately for Tiadora, she clashed her fists together and a shield reflected the beam back to its rightful owner. Dodge it, David urged himself when the yellow beam was firing back at him. He motioned his right hand to the walls of the bridge and concentrated for it to obey its commands.

Too late. The beam had slammed through him like it did to Cornelia, only this time with more impact. David cringed on the ground, trying to stand but it was useless. The pain of his own element was agonizing. So this is how an enemy would feel if he had gotten it, David muttered softly in his mind as he saw Kiara coming for him. Her worried face is so cute sometimes; David thought when she stroked his black hair with care. "You fool," Kiara whispered in his ear, "I love you so don't get hurt!"

David knew she said that as friends, nothing more. Jason kneeled beside him and helped David up to his feet though there was an unsteady and dizzy feeling. Tiadora skipped towards him and touched his forehead. Instantly, a sway of energy flowed back into his muscles. He let go of Jason's grip and flexed his muscles till everyone could hear a crack. "A splendid counter-attack, David. You did very well in level two,” Tiadora patted him on the back as Mokona ran to hug him tight. The white puff-ball, Jason joked to himself, can't believe that thing hates me. He scoffed softly as he faced Tiadora again but she wasn't looking at him. "Kiara," Tiadora called out to her, "you're next."

“Okay. Remember to heal me once I’m on the verge of death,” Kiara joked and adjusted her red hair, “Though don’t damage my hair too much. I need it for my dad’s modeling.” Tiadora nodded, pretending to understand. She repeated the same instructions again to Kiara and closed her eyes. Tiadora listened to the wind for a while. It reminded her of the day Sir Lancelot had proposed to her. A monster, Tiadora recalled of his attitude as she opened her eyes back and noticed something out of the ordinary.

Kiara’s eyes were wide open, looking towards a small stream of water in between her legs which were filled with fear. And before anyone could react, Kiara suddenly screamed. And fell to the ground.

★

"Kiry? Oh Kiry. Kiry Riry Miry?"

"Hey Jason! The fire's dying and my marshmallow’s getting cold. Get your butt back here," Kiara recognised Cornelia's voice, calling out to her brother.

"Again? Cornelia, why don't you stop the carbon dioxide from surrounding the flames. This is the fourth time I'm doing this."

"Well it’s your freaking idea to camp out here for the whole weekend," Cornelia yells could be heard. Kiara flinched. She could tell that they were in some sort of cave as Cornelia's loud voice had echoes. The ground beneath her was still the same sandy floor as the one at the bridge, they couldn't have carried her that far. Though maybe David must have lifted her. Kiara laughed inside. Waking up was hard. Her head knocked against a rock when she tried to stand up.

And true enough behind the rock; Kiara saw Jason's hand in the fire as he squatted beside the pebbles surrounding the flame. Tiadora was leaning against the 'cave' walls, napping or sleeping and Cornelia was heating four sticks of marshmallows. "Kiry!" Jason cheered as she sat beside Cornelia. The heats so strong, she thought, I wonder where David is.

"Where's the dark and mysterious?" Kiara asked to no one.

"Went to buy more 'Heart' biscuits for Mokona. Hey, you alright? Scared the hell out of me back there," Jason patted her shoulder with his other hand.

"I saw something," Kiara began. "I remembered agreeing to Tiadora's challenge and stared at the small flowing water beneath me. All of a sudden, a white light flew from the water into my eyes and next, there was a man charging towards me who was about to stab me with this long sword. It was so real that I was so scared I screamed, afraid that the sword may pierce through me. That's all I could remember."

"Tiadora was frightened when you just fainted there. Then she told us that you've discovered your special ability," Cornelia recalled. "Though she didn't go into detail."

"Au Contraire," Jason finally pulled out his right hand from the flames. "Before David went out, Tiadora talked to him about it."

"About?"

"I'm not sure if I remembered everything but," Jason lay down on the hard ground. "She said that you had a vision. She said that the water element has the ability to see the future or something like that. Looks like you saw something nasty."

"So what?! Was the vision telling me of my death?!"

"Calm down, gal. We aren't sure of the full picture yet," Cornelia tried comforting. "Tomorrow, we'll get the answers."

Kiara scoffed with twinge of anger, "Tomorrow!? I want the answers now, Cornelia! We're putting our life in danger for HER sake!! Among all the other descendants, why us?! Don't you think that it's already difficult living our normal lives?! I don't want to end up dying just because some ancient grandma is using all of us as back-up plans and nobody'll know about it! It's like saving the world without being rewarded!! Hello? It's our lives that are at stake here!!"

Cornelia looked down and Kiara wasn't sure if Jason was listening or asleep, but she didn't care.

"So what?" Jason said firmly as he back up. "It's our destiny. Our ancestors chose to risk their lives for their kingdom. So what if those knights were well-known? Don't you know, Kiara, good deeds aren't meant to be told."

"Aw. Shut up, Jason. Of course you won't mind," Kiara seethed. "You're already the most popular guy in school anyway." Jason just stared into the fire, across him Cornelia made the wind around her cooler to calm herself down. Kiara looked out from the cave. Midnight already? She thought again before yelling again, "I'm quitting right now."

Kiara quickly stood and hurridly ran to the cave’s exits to avoid Jason’s instinct speed, but just as she was about to leave David returned. Mokona was sitting on his ruffled black hair nibbling on a big half-bitten ‘Heart’ biscuit. David came close to her face and poked her nose.

“Ouch! What was that for?!” Kiara confused voice shake.

“You always…” David spoke, “flare your nostrils when you’re determined. Well, ever since sixth grade.”

Flushed with embarrassment, Kiara covered her nose and blushed. Do I really do that? Kiara wondered. She couldn’t say anything to him and tried to rush beside him on his right, but again David caught her wrist in time. Kiara didn’t notice his sad expression on his face until David spoke once more, “Then, would you rather sit there and do nothing when the time comes? Would you rather be the one who were to scream and wail when the monster comes up to you and you’re absolutely defenseless?”

With every question, David took a step closer to Kiara, frightening her even more. “Huh?! You wanna be the cowardly one?! That’s very low even for you,” he finally got to about an inch away from her. Mokona then slide down over David’s face and dropped to his hands, pouting at her,”Don’t you wanna meet Saber? Sir Arthur really loves him too.”

The Saber Toothed Tiger, Kiara realized. Everyone has a sacred animal and hers wasn’t here yet. She looked away from his patronizing gaze and let her brown eyes be covered by her red hair. That’s what I am, she mumbled so softly that David couldn’t hear, a coward.

“So what’s your decision then, guardian of Water,” everyone, including Kiara turned by to the entrance of the cave. Tiadora leaned against Jason as his arm was slung over her shoulders. She combed her extremely long brown hair with her hand and held onto Jason’s hand. Her face solemn with full of thought as she asked once more, “Do you or do you not want to be a guardian, following the footsteps of your ancestor?”

“I don’t know.”