"Elemental Face Off" (013)

- Hawai'i, Sunday, 10:50 am -

"You mentioned 'it,' the 'Blackstorm,' didn't you? Do you believe you'd be able to tell me everything you know about it?" Because of her insecurity and the memories that the elder had given Ayuka a few days ago, she needed to learn as much as she could, including what she had done in the past and forgotten.

"If I'm being completely honest. I'm also unfamiliar with this 'Blackstorm.' But I'm aware of a few things that may or may not be of assistance to you. We don't have many answers thus yet, but Time appears to have violently turned around. I'm sure you're already aware of this..."

"I understand that numerous people's lives have been dramatically altered by the passage of time... I've asked around, but no one has heard of Yashikami City. The majority of them claim it was demolished and is now in ruins... There's something to those words."

"Not in the same way... Because the Yashikami City we're standing in doesn't yet exist in our Timeline, we can't talk about it. Many people believe it to be fiction from the past, yet experts and scientists are well aware of it. They've completed a number of crucial duties that are even hidden from us, the planet's population."

"So... People just assume Yashikami City was destroyed a few years ago when it wasn't?"

"There's something to that. Personally, I trust my own judgment and knowledge. I'm rather certain that Yashikami City will be created in the future, but only time will tell."

"I think I understand what you're saying: my friends and I were forced to travel back in time to a time when Yashikami City didn't exist, but the technology was the same; in other words, this timeline doesn't have Yashikami City, but it's pretty much the same as before, with a few differences and us being thrown back to our adolescent years."

"Nice thinking. You're a brilliant kid, aren't you?" the man grinned, but Ayuka scratched her head and rubbed it in humiliation.

"I'm not a child, after all... Before the 'Blackstorm,' I was an adult. And, based on the woman's riddle, there might have been some hints that I had a family, which... well, I'm not aware of."

"Since you're telling me this... Do you have someone romantically interested in you?"

"Huh? Not that I'm aware of? Why did you ask me such an odd question?"

"Something occurred to me. In most movies, time shifts, erases your memories, and the person who is forgotten to be their family is usually someone who a boy or a girl secretly loves. So I assumed you'd figured it out, but I'm afraid I can't help you now..."

"No, thank you very much for your explanation. It's not exactly the same as what the woman said, but it should be enough..."

"Someone mentioning a similar sentence and providing you with a puzzle... Do you mind if I listen to it?"

"It isn't technically a riddle... But for the sake of brevity, I'll refer to it as such. Sure, what she stated fit in with the cadence of the words."

"When the sun shone brightly, a dreadful tragedy awakened, the sunshine faded, the buildings were at lost, and memories were at hand. The body had succumbed to the tragedy of a fragile transformation, thus years had passed and early experiences had been lost, a young body dispersed and unknown to its parent, losing the life while left alone."

"I see... You must be the parent she said..." The man smirked, smiling at his remark.

"Are you trying to tell me that I've had a child? Then their memories vanished? There's something in that..."

"Correctamundo. It must be the 'Blackstorm' because the sun shone brightly. Referring to a flare that temporarily blinded the entire world. Except for the lost memories, I don't grasp the remaining phrases."

"... I think I've found someone to call my spouse... I'm not sure who that is..." Ayuka asserted her claim.

"I'm confident you'll track down the person you married and had a child with. He'd most likely been brought here as well. Of course, because you don't remember anything, I won't ask you to recall even a tiny memory, but I will ask you to... Is there someone to whom you feel particularly close?"

Ayuka's head lifted, and she had an unusual expression of befuddlement on her face. She did, however, make every effort to comprehend, or at the very least remember.

- Mount. Kakuya, Sunday, 10:52 am -

"Tim!" Tim sat on the floor, his arm resting on his lifted knee, and his gaze was fixed on Codey.

"Look, I came upon something that might be of interest to you!" Tim was perplexed as he grasped a thread in his palm.

"It's a scarf, right? So? What am I expected to remember or comprehend from that?"

"I'm not certain... This, on the other hand, is a scarf that you've given Ayuka. It was laying silently on the trunk of a fallen tree in the woods. I'm worried, yet every time I reached for the scarf, I had a flash of something we'd forgotten."

"What exactly did you see? Perhaps you might explain."

"I believe it was a girl who looked almost identical to Ayuka but had a shorter ponytail. She had the same appearance as Ayuka, although she was younger."

"As a result, you talked through your words. It sounds like you saw Ayuka when she was a toddler."

"That isn't the case. It has to be meaningful in some way. Consider that for a moment. She resembled Ayuka and had a smile that was quite similar to yours."

"All right, so?"

"Ayuka seems to have had a baby daughter in a previous life. And, I reasoned, she looked like you at the same time. Maybe you were the one who actually wedded Ayuka."

"Come on, now. You've got to put a stop to it! What could I possibly want to do with Ayuka? Sure, she's a lovely girl who is extremely nice, but I have no feelings for her other than friendship. Furthermore, even if that were true, do you really expect a regular human to have any sort of relationship with the 'Holy Light' of the future? I'm not going to lie to you, and I'm not embarrassed. She's much over my pay grade."

"Is that supposed to be a good grade or a bad grade?"

"I'm implying that she is far too important for me to be dealing with her Godliness. Get a grip on yourself, please. We'll return the scarf to Ayuka when we get in touch with her again. Do you mind if I ask for your assistance?"

"Can you tell me what you need help with?"

"We've come for a reason! Can you give me some advice on how to manipulate the Wind? I could only manage a few seconds of the whirlwind, which was insufficient."

"I mean, that's a step forward."

"It's possible. But I still have no idea how to keep everything under perfect control."

"I mean, I'll do everything I can to assist you. Prepare yourselves now. Teacher Codey is always willing to lend a hand! Take a stand, live, and learn."

"Because of his professionalism, communicating with him will be as difficult as this training."

- Mount. Kakuya, Sunday, 12:10 am -

Tim and Codey engaged in a brief battle after receiving various indications and developing the ability to control the Wind, with Tim being unable to utilize fire and instead of attempting to manage the Wind.

The start was as steady as always, and Codey chose to begin by pressing both of his feet into the floor and positioning himself sideways, followed by a rise of his left palm.

And, in a single cut of the time, a frigid, fast-moving whirlwind blew out, slamming against Tim, whose eyes were bright with surprise.

To defend himself from the whirlwind that Codey had created, he raised both hands and crossed them overhead, feeling the strong wind whirling about him, even drawing him into the air, above the contained space.

In an attempt to correct his body in mid-air, he flipped upside down and pointed his palm forward, firing a basic attack of wind that blasted forward at high speed and even surprised Codey, who corrected his position by leaping back into the air and noticing that the blast had completely spread its power throughout the room.

Tim, on the other hand, landed on the floor with a hand supporting him, then sprinted forward, sweeping his right arm to the side and summoning his blade from the black sparks.

"I didn't intend for us to use weapons, but I suppose doing so will boost your weapon's Elemental Usage, so go for it."

As soon as he said that, Codey swept both arms to the side and dragged out both of his blades, one of which remained on his belt.

Codey spun and rolled in mid-air, summoning a gust of wind that engulfed both blades before fiercely tossing one of them forward, directly to the bottom of where Tim had been traveling.

Tim's eyesight appeared to be fading as he raised his left arm to block the wind, but as he came to a halt and slashed his blade to the side, the diamond on the sword changed color to green, and Tim's feet blew forth cold wind, which quickly engulfed his body.

He took advantage of it by leaping incredibly high into the air, catching up to Codey's height, and then slashing the blade down just as he hovered in front of his opponent, unleashing a rather heavy wind slice that completely caught our Hero off guard, as well as Codey, who had to cross his arms to block and was easily pushed back.

Tim leaped into the air and crossed his left arm in front of his chest before stretching his blade to the side.

In the case of Codey, he fell on the air as well, rotated to re-catch Tim's location, and appeared in front of him blowing a tremendous whirlwind.

"Just by meditating and watching me battle, he was able to pick up the first fundamental methods of the Wind? That's extremely remarkable." Codey grinned as his eyes turned a bleeding red just a few moments later.

Codey stretched his free arm to the side and then swept it behind his back, summoning a red ring made of energy, and stepped with his right leg behind, then corrected his aim by spinning on the spot and throwing the ring, which began to unleash red electricity, and Tim blocked the attack by using a smaller wind barrier as it zoomed through the air.

However, it was ineffective. Codey took use of the opportunity to fly through the air and quickly appear in front of Tim, kicking him in the face and sending him flying back into the wall, which bounced him forward and slammed him to the ground, dispersing his blade and calming the wind.

Codey landed in front of Tim after a successful strike smiled, and extended forward with his hand. "You'll most likely lose a lot of money unless you train the major elements. But, for starters, you did a good job with the Wind's basic motions." Tim stood up after looking at Codey and accepting his lending hand.

"I suppose I'll just have to learn to accept every setback..."

"You will undoubtedly require. Now it's time to get back to work."

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to pick up Wind in the following couple of weeks. I'll be overjoyed if I can do so." Tim yawned and stretched his arms as he spoke.

"Now is your chance. You need more time, therefore squandering it isn't the best option."

"You're right..." Tim raised his hand and stared right into it after he finished speaking.

"At the moment, my sole aim is to understand what I require. After I finish, I'll concentrate on the 'Blackstorm.'"

To be continued...