The man before Jorris raged with a horrible current. The water which composed his body seemed to form small whirlpools which violently swirled about his body.
"Do you think you're all high and mighty just because you were chosen as the new Captain!?!? Do you think you can just throw us away like that, and that we'll just stay silent about it!?!?! You're dead wrong!!!"
The man shouted out in anger, staring the Captain down with fury. As he shouted the children nearby were shaken with fear, and began to hug one another as they backed up into a corner.
Jorris, who was handcuffed and being taken in by the Captain merely looked at the man, unsure what to do or say.
The Captain stood forward, stepping in front of Jorris.
"Stay right there, prisoner. I'll deal with you momentarily, but it seems that I need to take care of this man first."
Without hesitation she held her hand out to Jorris, grabbing her blade with the other hand and unsheathing it.
"Do you have a complaint? When you yourself were selling drugs to the young ones!?!?", she shouted as a blade of ice formed on her sword.
"Why you....."
The man looked at her with disgust, glancing back and forth to the side.
"You're going to take me on?", the man asked.
"Is that not what you wished for? For what reason have you approached me in such a violent manner if not for a duel?"
The man furrowed his brows before a light smile creeped across his face.
"Heh. I'll teach you just where your justice will get you, woman. You might be on your high horse right now, but what if I do this?"
The man closed his eyes, looked downward and began to laugh.
"Heh heh heh..... you might think that you can beat me easily. Don't you, Captain?"
"For a man who spends his days lining his pockets at the expense of others, there is no comparison to one who spends their days training to improve themselves. Do you believe you can take me on with your unrefined swordsmanship?"
The woman snapped back at the man, however he merely continued to laugh.
"Heh heh.... it's that arrogance which will make you lose, Captain."
"Why have you not drawn your weapon? Are you going to duel me or not? And you children! Get out of this place!"
The woman yelled at the children who nodded and began to run away.
"You were so focused on protecting them that you didn't notice what I was doing?"
The man spoke with an arrogant tone, capturing the attention of the Captain.
"What do you mean by that?", she asked.
As she asked this the man raised his liquified hand, and attached to it was a string of water which led to the neck of one of the children, wrapping around it.
"I've already taken a hostage."
Four of the five children had ran off, however one was trapped in place- unable to move as if there was a chain around his neck which had been pulled taut.
The other four children looked back to see their comrade unable to escape, and stopped running.
Looking over in terror, the children realized that their friend had been caught.
"Agh!!!"
"He's trapped!!"
The boy seemed to be choking and couldn't make any words out as he grabbed his neck, gasping for air.
"I can tighten the chains around him at any moment. I know that I can't defeat you, Captain.... not in a regular fight..... but what will you do if I tighten this chain for every movement you make?"
The ice elemental before the man froze, looking over to the child and then back to the man with fury.
"You.... you coward!!! You would even take one of the people of this city hostage!? How could you!?!? And you called yourself a knight at one point!? It seems that I was right to strip you of your title!"
"Is that so, Captain? Oh, perhaps I shouldn't call you that anymore. After all, you're no longer my Captain."
The man smirked, twirling the ropelike liquid around his hand, implying that he held absolute control over the life of the child.
"GRR!!!"
The woman glared at the man, however she didn't move a muscle. She understood well that the man before her was not bluffing. The other children had stopped running and were merely watching with fear, and had not run away.
"Get away from here!!! I'll save your friend, so leave this place!!!", the Captain shouted back to the children.
"Ah ah. That won't do. Then I'll lose my other potential hostages. Listen up, children. If you run I'll kill your friend here. Of course, you can go ahead and run. If you don't care about your friend."
The four children who were unsure what to do stopped in their tracks, tears in their eyes.
They couldn't simply abandon their friend, who was choking and crying silently.
"N-no...."
"D-don't hurt him anymore...."
"Please.... stop....."
The children began to beg for the life of their friend.
"Such kind children. I suppose they all start out innocent like that, don't they? No..... perhaps only some are like that. Some are little shits who would run away without a second thought. But really, what a nice display. Staying behind for the sake of their friend."
The man grinned, having taken complete control of the situation.
If the children ran, the man would kill the child he had taken hostage. This locked the Captain into a position where she couldn't tell the children to run away, however allowing them to stay would put the man into a position where he had multiple hostages.
This meant that even if he killed one that he still held the lives of others in the balance, and the situation wouldn't change from his favor.
"You..... coward....."
"Now then.... you'd better not make a move or I'll go ahead and kill this one. I'm going to put you in your place, woman."
"Just like you did to your wife?", the Captain spat with an evil glare.
"Ho? That's quite a cheeky statement for someone who isn't supposed to be fighting back."
As the man said this he tightened the grip around the child's neck, causing the child to begin struggling furiously, trying to grab a breath of air.
"I.... I'm sorry.... please stop hurting that child...."
The Captain looked down, dropping her own blade in defeat.
"Please.... I beg you.... do what you want to me....."
With a grin, the man stepped forward.
"That's more like it. That's how a woman should be, no? You shouldn't try to stick yourself ahead of us. You should just bow your head like that and let me do what I want."
Looking up, the man eyed Jorris.
"A flame elemental, eh? Did this woman try and get you as well? She's a real bitch, ain't she?"
Jorris looked at the man, his emotions raging back and forth.
He truly had no idea what to do in this situation.
'I.... ah.....'
Having come to a realization, Jorris gritted his teeth.
"Yeah, that's right. As a matter of fact, I'd like to take a swing at her myself. Hey, how about I make a deal with you?"
Jorris walked over to one of the children, placing his handcuffs over the child's neck, holding him hostage as well.
"How about this. I keep this child here hostage while you have your fun with her? Then you don't have to worry about her making any funny moves to free the child while you beat her up! And then once you're done, I'll take my turn! What do you say?"
"What do you think you're doing, prisoner!? Cease your actions immediately!! How could you help this man!? Get back here!!"
The Captain shouted over to Jorris, however her concerns were not answered.
The man then let out a grand laugh.
"HAHAHA!!! I like you, flame elemental. To think that I'd come to terms with one of your kind before my own..... alright!!"
The man retracted his rope of water from the child who he was constraining and the child began to have a coughing fit, regaining his breath.
"Ugh.... huff.... blegh..... cough cough.... hah.... hah.... agh...."
The child was now on his hands and knees on this point, able to breathe once more.
"You messed up big time, Captain. You went around pressing your justice all over the place, and ended up in a situation where you're surrounded by enemies and outnumbered. Now I'll make you pay for what you've done to me."
The man held back a fist to slug the woman before him.
At this moment, Jorris bent down, whispering into the ear of the child who he currently held hostage.
"Don't worry. I'll save you all and your friends."
The child looked up to Jorris with confusion and fear, but Jorris held out his own hands, overloading the cuffs with magical energy.
The cuffs broke, and at this same moment the water elemental took a swing at the woman.
"Ugh!"
The woman took a slug to the face as a light shattering noise could be heard from the ice which composed her.
"Don't even think about fighting back, woman! That child will die!!!", the man shouted as he prepared to punch her again.
However at that moment, a spiral of flames shot forth, completely engulfing the entire corridor of the alleyways.
The ice around the area was melted and the man was completely evaporated.
"AGH!!!! WHAT THE HELL!?!??! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?!"
The man shouted out in pain and terror, looking to see Jorris holding out his hand.
"You were weak, and your only advantage was that of a simple hostage. Did you think you could just take on people stronger than yourself, taking advantage of their sense of justice? What happens when you come across someone underhanded who couldn't care less about something like a hostage? Such a stupid plan which could easily backfire due to how many holes there are. That's what you get for playing with fire."
The flames died down and the only thing that remained of the man were the crystals which made up his core.
"Sorry, Captain. I went and took a child hostage, and then I even went as far as to kill an inhabitant of this city. I suppose I really am a criminal now, and I'll probably get a pretty harsh sentence."
The woman looked up, looking back and forth between the man who had been killed, the man who killed, and the children.
The child who had been taken hostage by Jorris looked up to him with a smile.
"Thank you, mister!! You saved our friend from that man!"
The other children as well approached the man.
"Thank you!!!"
"If it weren't for you then our friend would have choked to death...."
The boy who had been choked too got up, having regained himself.
"T-thank you.... you saved me, Sir."
Jorris merely nodded, smiling at the children.
"Ah well.... sorry if I came off as scary at first. I didn't really have any choice but to take one of you hostage to save the other one and distract that man."
"It's ok!! You did it to save my friend, so I don't mind!!", the child who had the handcuffs placed around his neck shouted.
"Mhm!"
The other children nodded in agreement.
"Thank you!!!!", they all shouted.
Jorris placed his hands on the heads of the children with a smile.
"This is why I wanted to go on an adventure.... to see these smiling faces. Even if I get arrested here, I won't be too mad. So? Ah, sorry.... I kinda broke those handcuffs. I guess you can place some new ones on me, but.... well, I suppose that won't be very convincing, right?"
"Who are you?"
The woman known as the Captain questioned Jorris fervently, approaching him as her hair swayed behind her.
"Just.... who are you?"
"I'm just an explorer. I wanted to explore the world, so I came here to visit.... and it looks like I've gotten myself into a whole lot of trouble."
The woman looked back to the crystals which remained of the attacker, and then to the smiling faces of the children.
"Your method.... is crude..... but it saved these children...."
The woman looked down, blushing.
"So.... thank you....", she whispered. "I.... wouldn't have been able to do enough to save them on my own. I thank you for taking action, even if it was.... a strange action. And I apologize for shouting at you earlier, and for suspecting you of being suspicious."
"Ah, if we're apologizing about things then I got something as well."
Jorris approached the woman, placing his hand on her cheek which had been cracked from the punch which the man had given her.
"I'm sorry that I was too late to prevent this. It will leave a scar, and that's no good for a woman. I'm sorry."
The Captain looked up at Jorris, speechless.
"Um...."
She tried to speak but couldn't find the right words.
Her heart fluttered about chaotically. Before her right now was not the foolhardy man who she had met before, but a seasoned warrior who knew exactly what to do in each and every scenario to produce the best possible outcome.
"I...."
"Don't say anything. So? Are you still going to arrest me? I'll come with you if you want."
"Er...."
The woman looked at the children.
"Please don't arrest him, miss!!"
"This man helped us!! He's a good person!!!"
"Even if he's made of fire, he's still a good person!!!"
The children pleaded for the sake of Jorris, who looked back with a smile.
"Thank you for your support, but I've done some illegal things. Just because you do what is right doesn't mean you've obeyed the law. And those who disobey the law are to be punished."
Looking back to the woman, Jorris spoke tenderly.
"Isn't that right?"
The woman however, couldn't get an answer out.
Coming to her senses, she stood up with pride.
"No, that's wrong."
Turning around with closed eyes, she turned to walk out of the alleyway.
"I was in the wrong for attempting to arrest a man based off looks alone.... and perhaps I was also in the wrong for failing to realize the situation, and not taking measures to prevent that child from being held hostage. Therefore.... I will overlook your transgressions."
Jorris smiled.
"I see. If that's what you say as a Knight, then I suppose that's how it goes."
"Yes. That is my judgement as a knight. There are no personal feelings involved in this."
"Of course."
"Incidentally.... I would like to formally thank you for this..... would you like to come to my home for dinner tonight?"
Jorris grinned at hearing this.
"I'll never deny a free meal."
----
Two years later, Jorris- the flame elemental who had come down from the city of Volaciophus- married Ella, the Captain of the Knights of Iciclaris.
A year after their marriage, twins were born. These twins were named Envidia and Evelyn.
Two girls who looked almost identical, both resembling their mother were brought into the world.
One took the form of a flame elemental, and the other the form of a frost elemental.
They were raised together and eventually sent to the Academy to study. 10 years after the birth of these twins however, an incident occurred.
At the time, the twins were at school. Jorris had taken a spot as the Vice Captain of the Knights, his own prowess in battle being unmatched by any aside from one- his own wife.
Ella held power that matched Jorris, however in that situation her hands were tied.
At the time, Jorris was seen as nothing more than a criminal who wished to take revenge on the very woman who that man was attacking. As a result of this, he was able to sneak in an attack without putting the children in any danger.
It was for this cunning and his own combat ability that Jorris was previously a highly ranked warrior of the King of Envy, Leroy. It was also for this reason that the two Kings of Volaciophus were reluctant to allow him to leave.
Even so, after coming to this city of Iciclaris Jorris's journey came to an end.
Having met Ella, he decided to stay put for a few days when they first met.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months. Months turned to years, and years turned to marriage and children.
'How strange fate is. I was so fired up to go on an adventure, and yet for some reason I stayed in the very first village.... I suppose it was because my woman was here.'
Jorris smiled as he patrolled the city alongside his wife.
"Everything looks normal in the Northern sector. Should we check the Western wall?"
"Let us do so."
The two began to make their way West before a messenger ran up to them, panting.
"Captain!!!! Vice Captain!!! An army of elementals have shown up at the walls!!! It is the people of Volaciophus, and they are marching under the banner of Leroy, the one who carries the power of Envy!!!"
Jorris looked to his wife, nodding with sincerity.
"It seems that my past has come back to haunt me..... I once told him that I owed him a great debt, and perhaps it is time to repay it."
The two marched through the city, coming to the walls and ascending them to look out on the field before them.
As soon as they escalated the walls they came to view the base of the mountain range before them, and standing in rows were hundreds of flame and earth elementals.
In front of them was the man of fire who Jorris had once bowed his head to.
Avarco, the 2nd King of Volaciophus and the head of the house of Greed was nowhere to be seen- to the relief of Jorris.
Ella stood forward, holding forth her own sword handle and pointing it towards Leroy with a loud shout.
"Why have you come here, King of Envy? Have you brought this army here to raze our city and take over our people!? If that is the case, then I shall not allow you to do so!"
Jorris stood behind his wife, allowing her to take charge as the Captain, however Leroy clearly had taken notice of him. Standing forward in front of his men, Leroy shouted with a voice just as loud.
"Jorris my boy, you once served me as a warrior before I so graciously allowed you to leave my city to explore. And yet I come here only to see that you have been spending your days beside that fine woman before you? How.... envious I am that you can live such an easy life while I have been struggling without you among my ranks."