Next Mage
46.Creating Destruction

~Oliver's POV

"Okay. Marilla, Cam and Carissa, Emma, and Terra, are you positively sure you want to give up your element?" Everyone nodded.

"Gosh, I'm already letting Emma and Carissa do this...it's already two more than we need..." I muttered, putting a hand on my forehead in frustration.

"It's okay, Ollie," Cam said reassuringly. "We're willing to give it up as long as the world is saved,"

"And if it isn't?" I retorted gloomily. Cam grinned sadly at me, his glasses lopsided.

"Well then, at least we can say we tried," he replied as he straightened his glasses. I nodded reluctantly.

"Okay everyone, I want you to think carefully about this. Make this the best you got. Everything counts on that one move, your last move. Then you will lose your elements and magic forever. U-understood?" My voice shook a little as I realized the weight of the situation.

How will I be able to live without my element? Without the magic? Then I can't use the portal spell to return to Myragon... I wondered miserably. A tiny voice, not sinister like the Ragnarok's, but more humane and witty instead, whispered at the back of my mind.

You don't have to, you know, my conscience said. You can just let Emma do the work. She's a fire mage as well...

I shook my head vigorously as if to get the voice out. No. I felt as if I had a debt towards Marilla and the whole of Earth, somehow, and I was going to fulfill it, even at the cost of my element.

Fire destroyed everything...and now it's going to save everything.

dashy line thingo

~Marilla's POV

I sat in my empty dorm, the peaceful sounds of the light breeze and the rustling leaves of the forest calming me.

I missed Rika. And Kuro. And all the other Spirit mages.

It was a little too quiet without them, without Rika's excited squeals or Kuro's witty comments. I sighed and turned my mind back to the Ultimate. Concentrate, Marilla, I scolded myself, closing my eyes as I leaned back on the white, plump cushions of my bed.

What should I do for my Ultimate...I only get one chance at this, then it's over. I won't ever be a mage again, I thought sadly. Well, at least I got to prank some people at school by causing the drink fountain to go haywire... that was fun, I grinned. Maybe something in this room can help me with what to do...

I glanced around and noticed a small wooden bookshelf with a wide variety of books, some of them half-burnt, stacked and squeezed into the shelves. I walked over to the bookshelf.

Running my finger along the colorful spines of the books, red, blue, green, white and yellow, I breathed in the comforting scent of parchment and paper.

One of the water element books caught my eye.

'Healing Water', the faded blue text was scrawled across the spine in a neat fashion. I gripped the book and attempted to pull it out of the stuffed bookcase.

A few more books tumbled out of the shelf, and, sighing in frustration, I arranged the books neatly in the shelf.

"That's better," I said as I finished, the books, which had been cramped and dusty beforehand, were looking neat and tidy. "Now, let's see..."

I flipped open the cover of 'Healing Water'.

"Author Unknown," I read.

I flipped to a page, Learning How to Heal.

How to heal, it read.

WARNING: Be sure to practice on wilted plants or wounded animals beforehand. Attempting to heal a mage and failing could result in serious damage to your body and/or the victim's body.

Step 1: Make sure your mind is clear. Focus on the area of damage and summon a water bubble/multiple water bubbles. Place the bubble on the wounded area and picture the pain disappearing. If it is a burn, turn the water into ice and do the same thing.

Step 2: Ask if the victim is still feeling any pain. If they are, repeat step one. If they don't, picture the damage healing. If you truly begin to heal them, the water bubble/ice should start glowing a pure white.

Step 3: Repeat step two until the wound/damage is completely healed. The victim's now healed area may feel a little cold and numb, especially is they are a fire mage, so be sure to have a fire mage on hand.

"The Art of Healing," I read aloud as I flipped to the next page. "Healing is an extraordinary act and takes advanced water magic to execute. After healing, one may feel a little drained, as when they heal they put a little bit of their strength into the victim, so usually only Advanced Mages can perform this," I frowned.

Would I be considered an Advanced Mage? I wondered. I shook my head. It doesn't matter. Just as long as I can learn this thing.

"...The earliest form of recorded healing was in 700BC, when one of the first water mages invented this magic...blah blah blah yada yada...boring bit here..." I muttered as I flicked through the pages impatiently.

"Ah!" I stopped as I scanned the page I had flipped to. "Wait..."

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BRING A MAGE BACK TO LIFE, EVEN WITH HEALING MAGIC.

The words were printed in bold, in huge block letters.

That's it, I thought. That's what I'll do. I'll do the impossible.

~Narrator

Little sparks of heat exploded from Emma's fingers.

"Just a little more..." She muttered, her hands stinging slightly. Focusing on the leaf in front of her, she concentrated hard, squeezing her eyes shut.

Emma massaged her temples. If the book said it was possible, then she could do it...

Suddenly, the leaf burst into flames, the red-hot sparks charring the waxy surface of the leaf and disintegrating it. Emma stared at the black dust in amazement as the breeze swiftly scattered the disintegrated particles into the air. Then she squealed in excitement.

She had done it! She had exploded the leaf! Emma stopped jumping around, shaking her head. She needed to concentrate. She needed to get this perfect, and big enough so that it would kill the Ragnarok. Her friends were counting on her,

and she would do anything to get this right.

She was not going to lose this war.

And she was going to win it at any cost.