"Jade!"
Jade ran up to Gray as he came out the front door of the scorching store, the doorframe just on the verge of collapsing.
He distinguished his black flame as she drew near him and lowered the girl down to her feet, passing her into Jade's arms. "Take her away," he said.
Jade nodded as she held up the trembling girl by putting her arm over her shoulders and slowly led her away from the street back to her sobbing friend.
Gray wasted no time and turned back around to see Emrys struggling on his own, ice flying from his arms like a hose shooting water. He'd only managed to cover up an eighth of the building, but the flames quickly closed on the edges, slowly melting it away.
Emrys clenched his teeth and pushed harder. "Gray...the wind isn't helping!"
"I know," he said. He glanced up at the smoke and flames that started to spread to the nearby buildings. "F*ck," he grumbled.
He whirled his head in Emrys' direction as he shook his hands loosely in front of his chest. "Kid, take care of the surrounding fire, I got this," he said.
Emrys cast him a look of doubt, but did as he was told and moved off towards the left of the street, putting out the smaller fires that caught on to nearby stores.
Gray rolled his shoulders back and dropped down to a stance, his right leg behind his left.
Fire and ice...will it work?
He cursed and shook his head.
It was better than nothing.
"Fire...," he murmured as an intense black flame erupted above his right palm. He let it grow and grow until it burned a few feet into the sky, all completely within his control.
He held out his left hand uncertainly. It had only been less than a day since the cryokinetic core had settled in, and he wasn't familiar with its ability range just yet. "...ice..."
His entire left arm went alight as pitch-black crystals circled up to his elbow, the new power flowing fiercely in his veins.
He took in a deep breath and slammed his palms together, forcing the two elements to meet between his compressed palms. "Merge!" he commanded, and he prayed to have the results he hoped for.
At first, nothing happened, and the fire continued to burn, and the ice simply began to build onto itself uselessly.
"Aw, come on, come on," he grumbled, reattempting his new attempt.
He released his fists and slammed the palms of his hands together again, pushing harder this time. "Merge, goddamnit," he hissed.
A flicker of white and black appeared before his eyes, and Gray sucked in a breath of joy. "Merge!"
A flash of black shone in between his fingers and Gray's eyes widened as a cool liquid burst out uncontrollably from his hands. "Yes!" he hissed between his teeth, grinning wildly.
He took a step back and continued to channel the different elements through separate arms more steadily until sizable, black, liquid swirls formed around his hands and begun to circle his entire body.
Emrys' jaw dropped the moment he shifted his gaze and caught sight of Gray's phenomenon. Did he seriously just obtain the hydrokinetic core at a time like this? The aura Gray released while he used his power was just simply...terrifying.
It was like an increase of gravity pull and weight dropping on his shoulders...and even the ground seemed to shake.
Gray took another few steps back as the liquid twisted around him like a black hydra. "Hehehe...I'm just amazing," he snickered hopefully as he started to get the hang of his new skill.
He took one last glance at the fire raging before him, the building threatening to collapse. "Oh, no you don't," he muttered under his breath.
Then he charged forward a couple of steps and swung his arms in one swift arc. The liquid smoothly followed with the movements of his arm and shot up and down on the flames, washing down on the buildings and extinguishing the fire all in one huge wave.
Emrys lowered his arms slowly as he gaped at the scene in awe.
Just like that, Gray had got the job done. Just like that.
Just one move.
A faint cheer and claps heard in the background as the store workers and shoppers ran towards them and their saved property. To them, it was a miracle, but some cast Emrys and Gray looks of skepticism as they exchanged whispers.
Sirens sounded in the distance, indicating the arrival of the ever-so-slow authorities and firetrucks.
Gray turned around and pulled up his hood. He jerked his head towards the next intersection down the street. "Let's go, we're done here," he said. "They can handle the rest."
Jade gave the two girls one more look before rushing to catch up to them, holding her backpack straps tightly in her two fists. Why was Mister Gray in such a hurry to leave? Did he have some sort of a problem with the authorities or something?
She shook her head and slowed to a walking pace once she reached their side, and the three of them left without a word as the police cars pulled up on the street behind them, the people gathering around the mess of the drenched structures.
_______________
"In this last week, the city of Cille has been in total chaos as citizens fear for their daily lives. Streets have been set ablaze, many public establishments have been vandalized and damaged, but not only that, two men have been brutally murdered and left out on the streets while others are being robbed at gunpoint."
"Authorities are working hard at the moment to solve and clear out these unfortunate events. Residents of Cille are advised to stay indoors-"
Julius Lythle, the Head of the nation's Mages' Association, turned off the screen projector and swiveled his chair around as he heard the clack of sharp heels coming towards him in his office.
"Good afternoon, Zylith." He smiled up at the General Instructor of his organization and folded his hands together on top of his desk.
The woman stopped in front of his desk and took off her silver-rimmed glasses with sharp fingers, a tablet tucked under her left arm. She met his smile with an indifferent look from her gray eyes and took out a pen from the pocket of her black suit jacket.
She swept her silver locks to the side and pulled out her tablet, turning the flashing screen to him. She tapped on edge of the device with her pen and said flatly, "The city of Cille has been a mess for the last week. My sister wants to know if we should send out a man to assist the police with their investigations."
Julius placed a hand on his chest, pretending to look hurt. "No greeting for me?" he said, a bit disappointed. "I'm your boss, can't you at least say 'hi'?" He leaned forward and gave her the puppy eyes, begging for a little warmth from his favorite subordinate.
Zylith only blinked at him, waiting patiently for him to snap out of it.
Convinced that he was getting nowhere, the chairman cleared his throat and straightened up, rolling up the sleeves of his black button-up shirt. "Fine," he huffed. He ran his hand through his golden-brown hair and sighed.
"The problems of the city of Cille is no longer in the senior staff's worries," he said, getting back to the topic. "I'm sure you already know."
Zylith stared at him, unblinking. "You think that because of the disappearance of 'him'...," she remarked.
Julius shrugged. "You're not completely wrong. Ever since we found that 'he' had gone missing a few years ago, they are no longer a threat. Without 'him', they are just a bunch of mindless criminals moving about with their illegal affairs. The police can deal with them."
"But 'he' was not the only mage in their underground," she pointed out. "There are at least two more, at least two that are registered as mages in their records. The elderly man named Michael...perhaps he is behind all this. Or maybe the pyrokinetic one, Cereus, I believe. These two may be causing problems even in 'his' absence."
Julius only smiled. "They are only minor issues now, Zylith. Why are you so put up with the issues of Cille?"
She straightened and put away the tablet. "I am not," she said, apathetic. "My sister is the Head of Security, it is natural for her care for the safety of the people. After the problems caused by this...man, in the past years, she's been wanting to catch him."
He shook his head. "Face it. He is gone, dead perhaps. For someone as strange and powerful as he, it's best if we just leave his case."
Zylith's brows creased. "Why don't you want to investigate his case? You and I both know that someone as strange and as powerful as he can't just die like that. His disappearance is a mystery."
"Dead or not, as long as he doesn't create trouble, then we shouldn't worry about it. We shouldn't waste our people's lives just trying to catch him."
"And how do you know that he isn't causing trouble now?"
He grunted and stood up from his seat, turning around to look out the glass walls down at the booming Capital before them, the city of Lunis. "You already know, that he isn't the type of person to go around to create these trivial disturbances. He only acts if he is provoked, and he keeps a low profile. You don't happen to remember what he looks like, right?" he asked.
Zylith clenched her jaw and shook her head in defeat. "No."
"Exactly. And take a look at that video of yours...the destruction of a powerful mage wouldn't look so pitiful," he retorted. He tilted his neck to the side, and a loud crack sounded. He yawned and stretched his arms and legs, changing the topic.
"Anyways, let's get to the more important stuff. How's this year's recruiting going?" he asked.
Zylith pulled out her tablet and scrolled through her contents. "We found ten suitable candidates so far. Three of them are from the city of Vioni, one from Feyville, four from the Outer Province, and two from Maka," she informed.
Julius turned around, satisfied with the results. "Ah, that sounds great!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. He opened his mouth to say more when he noticed the slight change in Zylith's usual frozen expression.
"Eh? What's wrong?"
Zylith glanced back down at the device. "We have done a quick sweep of Cille..."
He puckered his lips in annoyance. "Ah...Cille, again?"
"Yes. Though we didn't find any suitable candidates that are registered as mages-"
His ears perked up as he found interest in her words. "So you've found some who are unregistered?"
She gave a slight nod. "A week ago, a fire was started in a building, but before the authorities arrived it was already put out. Witnesses say there were two mages."
She tapped on the tablet and turned it around so he could see its contents. She pointed at the picture of the run-down building. "From the results, it seems one should have cryokinesis, while the other one...it's quite strange, but it looks like it's a hydrokinetic mage."
Julius' eyes brightened and a huge smile spread across his lips as he rubbed his hands together. "Cryokinesis!" he repeated. "Interesting! I haven't seemed to cross paths with one which such power in ages!"
He rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes at the picture. "Hmm... a person who can wield hydrokinesis to the ability to where they could put out such a huge fire...perhaps your sister, Zylaine, would take interest in this person," he acknowledged.
Zylith blinked. "Permission to go to Cille?"
He grinned. "Permission granted."