(Outdated) The King of Elements

The Crystallized Ring

"Okay, guys. We've got only a few minutes left. Let's head upstairs for our last stop."

Dre's heart leapt at this news. He'd finally get to see what's been trying to lure him upstairs. He eagerly followed the group up the stairs, not even trying to hide his widening smile.

"Finally got over your fear, eh Dre?" McManus asked as he held the door open, letting out an over exaggerated ghostly wail.

"You aren't funny, Mr. McManus," Dre said as he passed him. The crowd stomped up the stairs, the pattering of the steps echoed off of the narrow walls like machine guns in a distant war. Faster, Dre demanded in his head. Let's get up there faster.

At last the group made it to the second floor. Dre rushed into the room, where nine pictures had hung around the room. Underneath each was a sword that looked to be made of the same material as Hiro's, and a clone of his sword stood beside a tenth, empty picture frame. Sitting under it, resting on a velvet-red pillow, was a crystalized, light blue ring.

"Welcome to the Kings' chambers. Each picture you see here is a former King of Elements. These warriors sacrificed their lives to protect us, putting their necks on the line so that we may continue to protect our Human brethren. Each King started as you all have; young, naïve, a bit wet behind the ears, but was chosen by the Suscéptor to defend our lives. It all started by him." He pointed to the closest picture frame on the left, which contained a picture of a man in silver, battle-worn armor, holding a flag and a large, cyan, crystal-like sword on a war-torn plains. The picture looked to have been drawn by Paolo Veronese, and the flag had waved in his face. Dre felt an odd sense of pride in his heart, as if this room, these pictures, these weapons, held a special spot in his core. He felt... familiar, as if he was at home, looking at the pictures of his own family.

"This is mind-blowing," he breathed.

"This is Reiax de Amita, the Purified One. From what we have gathered, he was the first King to defend his people from the dark magic of Aggaron. It's been rumored that when his father was still alive, the planet was separated between the five elements. After the king was killed, Reiax united the elements into one large group of people, who in turn helped him with the war against the ultimate evil. He vanquished the evil, but the Edge Walkers lived on. That is until his son, Axel de Amita, adopted the king's power." He turned to the next picture, where the painting of a man in regal clothing held a sword and shield, looking in the distance of the forest behind him. His wavy, blond hair seemed to dance with the wind. "In order to keep order in his lands, he thrust the Peacekeeper in the ground, using its pure nature to trap the Edge Walkers within it. He died from his injuries with Aggaron, and with his dying breath, asked his mentors, A-mii and Zhalost, to use their magic to ensure his sword chooses a worthy candidate for the King's power.

"Said sword has been passed down from generation to generation, each warrior competing in a never ending war between the ultimate good and the ultimate evil. We owe each of these people our lives, and must ensure that we aid our next King by any cost," he said, pointing towards the empty picture frame on the far right side of the room. Every eye shifted towards it; the room began to buzz with excitement as they shuffled towards the empty picture frame.

Dre's gaze went for the ring, his eyes shining as he felt its powerful, unearthly presence pull his attention toward it. He laid a hand on the smooth, cool glass protecting it, and felt a slight pulse reverberating from the ring. He tried to tear his eyes away from its beauty, its power, but found it to be impossible. The more he stared at it, the more he felt its presence tug at his mind.

Then, he felt a soft hand grab his arm. "Mr. McManus told us not to touch anything," Kim whispered.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." It was odd. He had no idea why, but he felt as if the ring belonged to him somehow. He had to tell Megumi about this.

"Alright people!" McManus called over the buzz of students, stuffing his cell phone in the pocket of his jacket. "Headmaster Gladestone is getting all prepared at the entrance to the Edge Walker's Forest. Time to head back to the academy and prepare to have your minds blown!"

He led the students down the stairs. Dre began to follow but felt the need to look at the room behind him. He looked over the various drawings of the past Kings. Beside the empty picture frame was a redheaded samurai in a black kimono. Dre stared, mouth agape. Hiro only grinned as his eyes went to the door. Expecting the worst, Dre turned, finding nothing but the patter of the students' shoes on the stairs. He turned back towards Hiro, finding nothing but an empty picture frame.

~~~~~

I'm so bored, Megumi thought to herself as she looked over the Edge Walker's Forest from the top balcony. Joel had told her that this was the place where the Journeymen and Masters were looking over the Apprentices during the entrance exams, and from what Kiku had told her, the Apprentices would gather up here for a secret reason. But she neglected to tell Megumi just how boring it would be to wait for them. Of course, she had her Nintendo 3DS to play, but she accidentally left it in her locker, as well as her fighting uniform and her extendable spear. She looked out at the forest, where Toney was stretching about a hundred and fifty yards away from the Peacekeeper. Tiffany stood patiently beside him, occasionally looking at her watch. If there was a trait she wanted to pick up from Tiffany, it was her patience.

The balcony stretched around the perimeter of the forest, giving the watchers ample amount of room to scope the majority of the forest. Megumi figured that the only way to actually check for any life inside was to be a spirit Amian, but what did she know?

Moments later, the doors behind her swung open, and both Ichi and Kiku came in, holding hands like a grade school couple. Kiku was slightly taller than her husband, and while Ichi mostly wore a conniving smile, Kiku often had a more relaxed, cheerful face. Her dark brown braid dangled slightly above her shoulders. "You look like you're having fun," she said to Megumi.

"I'm having a blast watching complete nothingness for-" she checked her watch, "twenty minutes. By the way, is it possible to actually die from boredom? Because I think I'll be the first victim."

"Technically, no," Ichi said with a smile. "But I'd love to see it."

"Shows how much you love your family, Ichi dear," Kiku said with masked indignation.

"What? You thought I meant I'd love to see Megumi die of boredom?" He glanced to Megumi, who was leaning against the balcony window, her arms crossed over her chest. "It was a joke ladies. Honest," he added with an uncomfortable smile.

After a long and awkward silence, the door slid open behind Kiku and Ichi, who sidestep just in the nick of time as the eager Apprentices flooded in. McManus appeared behind the group, looking completely winded. "Mention something that will blow people's mind and they act like coffee addicted ADD children," he sighed as he slumped to the side with the other two Masters.

"That's where you messed up," Megumi barely heard Ichi say above the excited chatter of the students. "I told my students that it would be something threatening to them if they get out of line. They didn't seem too thrilled to come after that."

Teacher of the year material there.