"Huh? BREWBRT!" I let out, confused at first before I cried in terror as a dark mass, propelled by wind magic shot itself before a pair of glowing barrels. The crack of thunder and lightning, however, reached me first. And I spasmed to my feet as I took in the suddenly changed scenery.
Where was I? Was Brewbrt alright!? If he had to put himself in that position then that surely meant... No, I shouldn't be thinking like this!
"What the..." I let out as a grand sight seemingly wipes my worries from my mind. I was back outside, but now I was all the way at the top of the mountain? I figured it was the top of the mountain anyway. There were only thundering clouds up above and the ground was perfectly flat.
However, none of that is what caught my attention. What stood out to me was the shrine far ahead of me. A strange blue aura surrounded it and it blurred easily as I tried to look away. But, I just couldn't find it in me to do so.
"Lightning?" I asked for some reason as I slowly started to move towards the seemingly controlled mass of lightning. As I did so as well, I couldn't help but shiver and tremble. Was this really it? Had I finally found what I set out to find...?
"You are vague..." a voice echoed all about me. Causing me to freeze with uncertainty.
"Are... Are you Thunder's friend, Lightning?" I asked it nervously. However, the way the mass of electricity reacted only made me more worried.
"Friend...? I only have one... And I lost them to Thunder..." it explained just before it shot over and around me. And in a fruitless effort to keep up with it, I stumbled around before I found myself staring in the same direction I started.
"Lost them? I don't understand, he is your f-friend, no?"
"HE WAS NEVER!" Lightning roared as it suddenly shot into my face. Somehow showing off a distorted, jagged face full of buzzing, shockfull teeth.
"O-Okay... Okay..." I let out quietly as I flinched in the face of such power. Carefully, I gestured gently as I backed up slightly.
"I have seen you make the journey with him, why do you come?" Lightning then asked me once I had finished moving closer. And I was breathless for more reasons than just the terror its strength filled me with. To be so close to what was the purest piece of lightning in existence was...
"Oh! I'm sorry... I was just..."
"Enamored by my power?" it asked with an almost threatening tone.
"N-N-N-NO! I WAS JUS-" I screamed before I stopped as it seemed to cackle with laughter.
"I'm sorry... It's just been so long since anyone has come before me..." Lightning meekly apologised as it seemed to nervously shirk away from me.
And, with a nervous laugh, I tried to compose myself, "I guess it makes sense... Not many people can cross a sea of molten gold."
"It is for the safety of the world that I keep all thunder-gold here. A treaty between two brothers binds me so."
Then, having heard that, I couldn't help but twitch a little, "You are bound here?"
"No, I speak of my duty to protect the sacred ore. That which Thunder created to defend the world." Lightning spoke with pride despite its prior behaviour in regard to Thunder.
"So you are far above what must be petty squabbles from us humans?" I asked as tears began to fill my eyes. How could I possibly convince Lightning to help me if he was tasked with something so great!?
"I am and always will be." it answered as it seemed to snake back into a relaxed posture.
"I see..." I let out in despair as I looked down at my palms. And like the storm about me, my heart thundered and slammed about as anger began to fill me. All this effort and pain and it was hopeless. This curse I was born with could not be overcome!
"Why do you cry as you see your heritage?" Lightning asked just as I fell to my knees. My palms were full of my tainted, blue lightning as I tried to burn it all out of my system.
"My heritage...? This heritage has caused me nothing but pain... I'M GOING TO LOSE MY MOTHER BECAUSE OF IT! AND I TRAVELLED ALL THIS WAY HOPING TO GET THE POWER TO SAVE HER! I LOST ALL MY FRIENDS AND EVERYONE I CARED ABOUT FOR THIS STUPID DREAM FOR MINE AND IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING!" I screamed as my magic exploded out of me in all the directions it would go.
"You want me to save a life?" Lightning asked.
"It was all for nothing... Nothing!" I struggled to let out as a warm sensation began to wrap around me.
"Perhaps, we can strike a bargain?" Lightning offered as a small strand of it suddenly appeared before me.
"B-Bargain!?" I had a hard time repeating as one of my hands tightly clutched my chest.
"In exchange for your mother's life, I shall have you save the life of my friend in return."
"You want me to battle Thunder...?" I ask for clarification. Only to curl in on myself as I realised that I truly had burnt most of the magic out of me... I barely had any left...
"No, I want you to compete with the man he is made out of."
"Compete w-with him at what?" I begged him to explain. Hiccuping as I did so as I started to follow his erratic, sudden movements. Slowly rising up after him as he started to spin like water in a sink. Only, reversed.
"The sacred festival of Fallen Star!" Lightning answered as a vortex began to appear ahead of it. A twisting display of might that narrowed as it went off into the distance. It almost reminded me of a horizontally placed tornado!
"And if I do this... You will become mine so I can save Mother!?" I asked it as I stood before the vortex as it sucked and pulled at me.
"I shall." it answered, and with that, I let my body go limp so I could be sucked into what must've been a portal. However, I couldn't have predicted how violent the insides of this vortex was. And with each fling and tussle, I found myself screaming in terror as it knocked all orientation out of me.